Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Davis's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Davis?
Your $100,000 in Davis has the same purchasing power as $83,991 in the average US city. You'd need $16,009 more here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Davis's cost index of 119, sorted by closest match.
Wondering whether you should move to Davis? It depends on what you're optimizing for, but the city has real arguments in its favor: solidly above-average earnings and bike infrastructure that actually exists, plus 2 more things worth knowing. The data behind each is below.
Median household income in Davis is $83,592, a step above the national median of about $75k. The local job market leans toward industries that pay better than average, and that shows up in the take-home for most working households here.
Davis's Bike Score is 91/100 — the kind of number you only get when a city has built real bike infrastructure (protected lanes, connected routes, drivers who expect cyclists). For commuting or just for getting around, the bike is a serious option here, not a hobby.
The average one-way commute in Davis is about 23 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
75% of adults 25 and over in Davis hold a bachelor's degree or higher — meaningfully above the US average of around 36%. That correlates with the things you'd expect: stronger schools, more white-collar employers, more bookstores than the population alone would predict.
Reasons are pulled from Davis's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Now and then. Davis's winters are cool rather than truly cold — about 40°F on average — so most of the precipitation falls as rain. A snowy morning happens a few times a season; sustained accumulation is rare.
Mild on the cold side. Davis's winter average of about 40°F is the kind of weather where you want a jacket but the heating bill is manageable. Snow is rare, frost is occasional, and the lawn never really browns out.
Genuinely hot. Summer in Davis averages about 91°F, and peak afternoons run well over a hundred. Outdoor plans move to mornings and evenings; AC is the most-used appliance in the house.
Davis falls in roughly USDA Zone 9. The zone classification is based on average annual minimum temperatures, so it's the right lookup for whether perennials and trees will overwinter here. Note that this is approximate from our winter-temperature data — check the USDA map for the exact zone before betting an expensive plant on it.
Davis sits at about 36 feet (11 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Average for an American city. Davis's reported crime rate of about 3,091 per 100,000 residents sits roughly in line with the US baseline of ~3,500. Like anywhere else, the citywide number masks real differences between neighborhoods — worth looking at specific areas before deciding.
Yes, noticeably. Davis's cost-of-living index runs 119, about 19% above the US baseline. Housing usually accounts for most of the markup; groceries and services run higher too but with less drama.
Mostly car-dependent. Davis's Walk Score of 36/100 means a handful of errands work on foot — depending on the neighborhood — but most residents still need a car for the rest. Transit Score is 41 out of 100.
Roughly $83,342 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Davis runs about $1,927/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.