Get a Birth Certificate in San Francisco County, CA
Fees for this service are set by state statute. Here's what to expect in San Francisco County.
This price is not the county's to choose. H&S § 103625(b)(1) sets the fee at $18, § 103625(f) adds $5 to every certified copy, and Gov. Code § 27365 makes the recorder charge exactly what the registrar charges. § 54985(c)(6) takes both out of the board of supervisors' general power to set county fees. The counter price is higher than the code because H&S § 100430 adjusts it every year and CDPH publishes the result — $31.00 from 1 January 2026.
What may legitimately differ. A board with a county children's trust fund may add up to $3 to a birth certificate (§ 103625(b)(2)) — which is why about a third of California counties publish $34 rather than $31. Contra Costa (§ 103626), Alameda and the City of Berkeley (§ 103627) and Solano (§ 103628) each have their own domestic-violence surcharge, with an annual CPI escalator. That is the whole list.
Ordering online usually costs more than this. Counties take card orders through a payment vendor, and the vendor's processing charge sits on top of the statutory fee — Santa Clara's online birth certificate is $41 against a $34 counter price. The extra is not a county fee and is not part of what H&S § 103625 sets.
An authorizedcopy — the one that establishes identity — needs a statement sworn under penalty of perjury that you are an authorized person, notarized if you are not there in person (H&S § 103526(a)). Authorized persons are the registrant, a parent or guardian, a child, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse or domestic partner, an attorney or estate representative, someone with a court order, and law enforcement. Everyone else may still buy an informational copy, which carries the same record under a legend reading “INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY” (§ 103526(b)).
Which office holds the record. H&S § 103525 lets the State Registrar, the local registrar or the county recorder issue a certified copy of a record registered with that official. So this office covers births registered in San Francisco County. For an event in another county, or a very recent one your county has not yet forwarded, the county health department's local registrar or CDPH Vital Records is the office to ask.
San Francisco County's County Clerk holds birth certificates for someone over 3 years old, and death certificates for deaths more than 3 years ago and after 1906. Its own page says: “You can get a copy of a death certificate record for someone who died in San Francisco more than 3 years ago and after 1906.” (as of 26 September 2026) ↗
If you need a certified copy of a current birth certificate, that is not this office. It comes from the San Francisco Department of Public Health's Office of Vital Records, City Hall Room 160 — the route above.
Mail-in application — complete at home and mail with the fee.
Check the county website for the County Clerk's office address and hours.
Contact info sourced from official county records. Always call ahead to confirm hours and payment methods before visiting.