Qibla Direction in San Francisco, California

How to face the Qibla in San Francisco

1. With your phone: tap Open the live Qibla compass, allow location (and, on iPhone, motion access), then turn slowly until the Kaaba on the dial reaches the mark at the top.
2. With a regular compass: hold it flat, turn it until the needle sits on N, then face 6.0° on the dial. That is the magnetic bearing; reading 18.8° off a magnetic compass would leave you about 12.8° off.
3. With the map: open the live compass, switch to Map and follow the gold line from your position to the Kaaba. It does not use the compass at all.

If a phone compass looks wrong, move the phone in a figure-eight a few times, away from laptops, speakers, car dashboards and magnetic cases, and hold it flat while you turn.

Why the Qibla from San Francisco points north-northeast

From San Francisco the Qibla is north-northeast, closer to north than anywhere on the East Coast. A straight line on a Mercator map points 97°, east, but the great circle, the shortest path over the globe, leaves San Francisco at 18.8° and climbs to about 75° N, far up toward Greenland, before it curves down toward Arabia. The difference between the two lines is about 78°.

Nearby cities

• Fremont, CA19.3° NNE · 28 mi away
• San Jose, CA19.5° NNE · 42 mi away
• Sacramento, CA19.6° NNE · 75 mi away
• Los Angeles, CA23.9° NNE · 347 mi away
• Anaheim, CA24.2° NNE · 371 mi away

See every city in the USA, or use the Qibla Finder for your exact spot.