Cost of Living
per year
per month
How San Francisco's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in San Francisco?
Your $100,000 in San Francisco has the same purchasing power as $68,329 in the average US city. You'd need $31,671 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 San Francisco's cost index of 146, sorted by closest match.
If you're weighing a move to San Francisco, the short answer is that the city has a few genuine arguments going for it — most obviously paychecks here run high and the air is clean, not just clean-ish, plus 1 more things worth knowing. Here's the longer version.
Median household income in San Francisco is $136,689 — 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.
San Francisco's air quality index averages about 42 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
60% of adults 25 and over in San Francisco 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 San Francisco'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.
Almost never. San Francisco's winter average of about 45°F is too warm for snow most years. A measurable snowfall is the kind of event that closes schools and gets photographed for the local paper.
Barely. Winter in San Francisco averages around 45°F — short, mild, mostly an excuse to break out a light jacket. Some plants don't even drop their leaves.
Pleasantly warm. San Francisco's summer averages around 73°F — comfortable for outdoor evenings, hot enough on peak days to warrant AC but mild compared to the Sun Belt.
Approximately USDA Hardiness Zone 10. That's the band gardeners use to pick plants — anything rated for Zone 10 or colder should survive a typical winter in San Francisco. (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.)
San Francisco sits roughly 0 feet (0 m) above sea level — basically at the waterline. Storm surge, king tides, and long-term sea-level rise are real considerations for any coastal property here.
The citywide numbers are concerning — about 6,987 per 100,000 residents, well above the US average of around 3,500. As with all crime stats, the city aggregate hides huge variation between neighborhoods, but the overall picture is worse than most US cities.
Yes — San Francisco is one of the more expensive places to live in the US. The cost-of-living index is 146, about 46% above the national average. Housing is the dominant factor, and salaries here have to be high to compensate.
Not really — San Francisco is built around the car. Its Walk Score of 0 out of 100 means almost every errand is a drive. Living without a car is technically possible but real work; most residents wouldn't try it.
Roughly $102,445 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 San Francisco runs about $2,316/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.