Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Santa Monica's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Santa Monica?
Your $100,000 in Santa Monica has the same purchasing power as $72,754 in the average US city. You'd need $27,246 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 Monica's cost index of 137, sorted by closest match.
If you're weighing a move to Santa Monica, the short answer is that the city has a few genuine arguments going for it — most obviously paychecks come in above the us average and you don't actually need a car, plus 2 more things worth knowing. Here's the longer version.
Median household income in Santa Monica is $106,797, 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.
Santa Monica's Walk Score is 92/100 — top-tier walkability by US standards. Groceries, coffee, work, social life: most of it lands within reasonable foot range of wherever you live. A lot of residents skip car ownership entirely, which is its own form of savings on top of the lifestyle change. Transit Score comes in at 77/100 too, so even the trips that are too far to walk are usually doable on a bus or train.
Santa Monica's Bike Score is 96/100 — 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.
68% of adults 25 and over in Santa Monica 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 Monica'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. Santa Monica's winter average of about 50°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 Santa Monica averages around 50°F — short, mild, mostly an excuse to break out a light jacket. Some plants don't even drop their leaves.
Pleasantly warm. Santa Monica's summer averages around 75°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 Santa Monica. (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.)
Santa Monica sits at about 115 feet (35 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Higher than average. Santa Monica reports about 5,461 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.
Yes — Santa Monica is one of the more expensive places to live in the US. The cost-of-living index is 137, about 37% above the national average. Housing is the dominant factor, and salaries here have to be high to compensate.
Genuinely so. Santa Monica's Walk Score of 92 out of 100 puts it in "Walker's Paradise" territory — daily errands don't require a car at all. Transit Score is 77 out of 100. Many residents skip car ownership entirely.
Roughly $96,215 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 Monica runs about $2,227/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.