Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Santa Rosa's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Santa Rosa?
Your $100,000 in Santa Rosa has the same purchasing power as $81,149 in the average US city. You'd need $18,851 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 Rosa's cost index of 123, sorted by closest match.
If you're weighing a move to Santa Rosa, 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 it's a quieter city by the numbers, plus 4 more things worth knowing. Here's the longer version.
Median household income in Santa Rosa is $92,604, 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 Rosa reports roughly 1,742 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.
Santa Rosa's Walk Score is 91/100 — 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.
Santa Rosa's Bike Score is 74/100 — 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.
Santa Rosa's air quality index averages about 36 — 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.
The average one-way commute in Santa Rosa is about 23 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 Santa Rosa'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 Rosa'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 Santa Rosa 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. Santa Rosa'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 Santa Rosa. (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 Rosa sits at about 184 feet (56 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. Santa Rosa reports roughly 1,742 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, noticeably. Santa Rosa's cost-of-living index runs 123, about 23% above the US baseline. Housing usually accounts for most of the markup; groceries and services run higher too but with less drama.
Genuinely so. Santa Rosa's Walk Score of 91 out of 100 puts it in "Walker's Paradise" territory — daily errands don't require a car at all. Transit Score is 40 out of 100. Many residents skip car ownership entirely.
Roughly $86,261 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 Rosa runs about $2,024/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.