Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Santa Clara's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Santa Clara?
Your $100,000 in Santa Clara has the same purchasing power as $65,066 in the average US city. You'd need $34,934 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 Santa Clara's cost index of 154, sorted by closest match.
Wondering whether you should move to Santa Clara? It depends on what you're optimizing for, but the city has real arguments in its favor: a high-income city, even by us standards and a genuinely mild climate, plus 3 more things worth knowing. The data behind each is below.
Median household income in Santa Clara is $165,352 — 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.
Summers in Santa Clara average about 80°F, winters around 42°F. That's the band where you get distinct seasons without either end being miserable — a real spring and fall, summers warm enough for the pool, winters cold enough for a jacket but not for survival gear.
Santa Clara's Bike Score is 73/100 — 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 Santa Clara 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.
65% of adults 25 and over in Santa Clara 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 Santa Clara'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. Santa Clara's winters are cool rather than truly cold — about 42°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. Santa Clara's winter average of about 42°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.
Hot, but not desert-hot. Summer in Santa Clara runs about 80°F on average, with afternoons in the 90s and humidity that varies by region. AC is standard rather than optional.
Santa Clara 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.
Santa Clara sits at about 52 feet (16 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. Santa Clara's reported crime rate of about 3,953 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 — Santa Clara is one of the more expensive places to live in the US. The cost-of-living index is 154, about 54% above the national average. Housing is the dominant factor, and salaries here have to be high to compensate.
Mostly car-dependent. Santa Clara's Walk Score of 41/100 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 36 out of 100.
Roughly $107,583 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 Santa Clara runs about $2,841/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.