City comparison
Daly City, CA is about 30 miles (50 km) from San Francisco, CA in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 40 miles, or about 39 min behind the wheel at highway speeds.
Driving distance is a rough estimate (great-circle × 1.25); driving time assumes a 60 mph blended average. Real trips run 10–20% longer with stops.
A direct flight from Daly City, CA to San Francisco, CA takes about 4 min, covering roughly 30 miles in a straight line. Connecting itineraries with a layover typically add 1–3 hours.
Block-to-block estimate at ~500 mph cruise, including taxi, climb, and descent — what an airline would publish, not pure airborne time.
San Francisco has a population of 851,036, vs 103,648 in Daly City — about 8.2× larger by population. By land area, San Francisco covers about 47 sq mi vs 7.7 sq mi for Daly City.
Population from US Census ACS. Land area from the Census Gazetteer (city proper, excluding inland water).
Cost indices by category, with the US city average (100) marked.
Index: 100 = US city average. Lower is more affordable.
Side-by-side costs, salaries, and sub-category indices.
| Metric | Daly City | San Francisco | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,554/mo | $2,316/mo | 10.3% higher in Daly City |
| Median home value | $1,073,100 | $1,348,700 | 25.7% higher in San Francisco |
| Median household income | $114,910 | $136,689 | 19.0% higher in San Francisco |
| Groceries index | 108.1 | 103.9 | 4.0% higher in Daly City |
| Utilities index | 168.3 | 162.7 | 3.5% higher in Daly City |
| Transportation index | 106.1 | 102.0 | 3.9% higher in Daly City |
| Healthcare index | 106.0 | 100.2 | 5.9% higher in Daly City |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Daly City, you'd need $97,736 in San Francisco to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
San Francisco, CA is about 2.3% cheaper overall than Daly City, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. If you earn $80,000 in Daly City, you'd need about $78,189 in San Francisco to keep the same standard of living.