Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Irvine's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Irvine?
Your $100,000 in Irvine has the same purchasing power as $71,932 in the average US city. You'd need $28,068 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 Irvine's cost index of 139, sorted by closest match.
If you're weighing a move to Irvine, the short answer is that the city has a few genuine arguments going for it — most obviously paychecks here run high and it's a quieter city by the numbers, plus 2 more things worth knowing. Here's the longer version.
Median household income in Irvine is $122,948 — well above the US median of roughly $75k. It's a city where high-paying industries (tech, finance, professional services) cluster, and the income distribution tilts noticeably upward relative to most of the country.
Irvine reports roughly 1,711 crime incidents per 100,000 residents, well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. As always, citywide numbers paper over real differences between neighborhoods — but the broader trend here is on the calmer end of the US distribution.
The average one-way commute in Irvine is about 24 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.
70% of adults 25 and over in Irvine 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 Irvine'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. Irvine's winters are cool rather than truly cold — about 37°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. Irvine's winter average of about 37°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 Irvine averages about 103°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 Irvine. (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.)
Irvine sits at about 157 feet (48 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
By the numbers, yes. Irvine reports roughly 1,711 crime incidents per 100,000 residents — well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. The big caveat applies as always: every city has neighborhoods that look nothing like the citywide average. But the citywide average here is genuinely good.
Yes — Irvine is one of the more expensive places to live in the US. The cost-of-living index is 139, about 39% above the national average. Housing is the dominant factor, and salaries here have to be high to compensate.
Not really — Irvine is built around the car. Its Walk Score of 15 out of 100 means almost every errand is a drive. Transit Score is 38 out of 100. Living without a car is technically possible but real work; most residents wouldn't try it.
Roughly $97,314 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 Irvine runs about $2,749/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.