Fannie Mae Departs San Francisco Offices for Alabama

The Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, is moving its San Francisco operations to the Deep South.

Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville announced that Fannie Mae is relocating its San Francisco office to Birmingham, Alabama, SF Gate reported. Tuberville said the move comes after the senator worked in tandem with President Donald Trump and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte to make it happen.

In a video sharing the news, Tuberville declared, “Fannie Mae is leaving woke California for sweet home Alabama.” The football coach-turned-lawmaker called the relocation “an early Christmas present for the city of Birmingham and the state of Alabama.”

“These are great jobs coming to the state that will help reestablish Birmingham as one of the leading financial hubs of the South,” he said. The goal, Tuberville said, is to “creat[e] more opportunities to keep our kids in the state [and] rais[e] the standard of living, all while keeping the cost of living down.”

“Relocating Fannie Mae from San Francisco to Birmingham will not only save taxpayers’ money, but also bring jobs and opportunities to our state,” Tuberville said, per Birmingham news outlet WTVM. “Birmingham was once the financial capital of the South, and this is an important step toward making the city boom again.”

Fannie Mae, based in Washington, D.C., has its San Francisco branch office at 535 Mission Street in the city’s Financial District. The Birmingham office is expected to open early next year, though its exact location in the Alabama city hasn’t been determined, local news outlet WBRC reported. In moving to Birmingham, Fannie Mae seeks to reduce operating costs and improve service in the Southeast, according to WBRC.

California employees will not be required to relocate to the Yellowhammer State. The number of employees at its offices in San Francisco and across the country could not be confirmed, as Fannie Mae does not disclose regional office totals. Overall, Fannie Mae employs approximately 8,200 people, according to Forbes.

The Birmingham–Hoover metro area had a GDP of about $84.6 billion in 2023, per Federal Reserve data. By contrast, the San Francisco–Oakland–Hayward metro area’s GDP totals roughly $779 billion.

— Chris Malone Méndez