Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Fresno's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Fresno?
Your $100,000 in Fresno has the same purchasing power as $95,721 in the average US city. You'd need $4,279 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 Fresno's cost index of 104, sorted by closest match.
If you're weighing a move to Fresno, the short answer is that the city has a few genuine arguments going for it — most obviously you can walk to most of what you need and it's an easy city to live in on a bike, plus 1 more things worth knowing. Here's the longer version.
Fresno earns a Walk Score of 67/100 — above the US median, with denser neighborhoods scoring higher than the citywide aggregate suggests. A car is still useful for longer trips, but everyday life works on foot for a lot of residents.
Fresno's Bike Score is 68/100 — 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 Fresno is about 22 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.
Reasons are pulled from Fresno'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. Fresno's winters are cool rather than truly cold — about 41°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. Fresno's winter average of about 41°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 Fresno averages about 95°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.
Approximately USDA Hardiness Zone 9. That's the band gardeners use to pick plants — anything rated for Zone 9 or colder should survive a typical winter in Fresno. (The estimate is derived from our winter-temperature data; the official USDA map uses station-level annual minimums and may differ by half a zone.)
Fresno sits at about 315 feet (96 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Higher than average. Fresno reports about 4,360 incidents per 100,000 residents, above the US average of around 3,500. Citywide numbers are often dragged up by a few hotspots; specific neighborhoods can be very safe in cities that don't look great on paper, and vice versa.
Roughly average. Fresno's cost-of-living index is 104, putting it in the band where rent, groceries, and utilities track the national norm. Not a bargain, not a premium.
Somewhat. Fresno earns a Walk Score of 67/100 — many daily errands are doable on foot, especially in the denser neighborhoods, but a car still helps for longer trips. Transit Score is 46 out of 100.
Roughly $73,129 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 Fresno runs about $1,227/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.