Berkeley, California Cost Of Living

Buy Rent

F

Overall 94%

Goods & Services 30%

Housing 247%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2019 and was released from C2ER in January, 2020; this is the most current data available.

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Berkeley	California	National
Cost of living	194	140	100
Goods & Services	130	111	100
Groceries	126	118	100
Health care	127	113	100
Housing	347	196	100
Transportation	137	128	100
Utilities	121	118	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Berkeley is 38% higher than the California average
The cost of living in Berkeley is 94% higher than the national average
Berkeley housing is 247% higher than the national average
California general sales tax is 42% higher than the national average
California state income tax is 59% lower than the national average

For Sale For Rent

Find real estate listings

Find rental listings

Most Affordable Places to Live in and Around Berkeley

See all the best places to live around Berkeley

Compare Berkeley, CA Cost of Living

See all Berkeley poll results

The best places in California

Here are the best places to live in California

Top 10 cities in California with the best education system

10 best cities to buy a new house in California

See the best places to live in & around Berkeley

Salary Calculator

This is how much you would need to earn in

Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$128,089	$10,674	$2,989	$3,843
Renters	$42,029	$3,502	$981	$1,261

The affordability of the housing market in Berkeley, CA as well as the overall cost of living can be predicted by what percent of the monthly income is spent on housing related costs. This is konwn as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The overall rule of thumb is that no more than 28% of your gross income should be spent on the overall costs related to housing and no more than 36% of gross income on all expenses and debts. Among Berkeley homeowners, the median income is $128,089. This indicates that a monthly maximum of $2,989 should be spent by homeowners on all housing related costs. Renters have a median income of $42,029. This indicates that renters would have a maximum of $981 for their rent related monthly costs.

California Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
California	7.25%	10.5%

California Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
California	1%	13.3%

Goods & Services

Item	Berkeley	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$19.71	$17.49	12.7%
Beauty Salon	$67.86	$38.17	77.8%
Toothpaste	$2.93	$2.32	26.2%
Shampoo	$1.33	$1.01	31.4%
Movie	$12.11	$10.72	12.9%
Bowling	$19.83	$13.86	43.1%

Groceries

Item	Berkeley	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$3.71	$3.90	4.9%
Fried Chicken	$1.35	$1.40	3.3%
Milk	$2.39	$1.96	21.8%
Potatoes	$2.66	$3.18	16.4%
Pizza	$13.70	$10.39	31.8%
Beer	$10.49	$9.23	13.7%

Health Care

Item	Berkeley	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$136.71	$106.34	28.6%
Doctor	$150.71	$115.25	30.8%
Dentist	$139.14	$98.38	41.4%
Ibuprofen	$11.99	$9.26	29.5%
Lipitor	$442.32	$466.47	5.2%

Housing

Item	Berkeley	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$795,200.00	$184,700.00	330.5%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$3,196.29	$1,273.32	151.0%
Apartment Rent	$1,434.00	$949.00	51.1%

Transportation

Item	Berkeley	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.79	$2.59	46.2%
Tire Balancing	$61.00	$48.90	24.8%

Utilities

Item	Berkeley	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$228.47	$167.60	36.3%
Phone	$184.65	$163.42	13.0%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Strawberry CDP (Tuolumne County), CA	116	133	33%
Rollingwood, CA	3,231	125	25%
Port Costa, CA	228	126	26%
San Pablo, CA	29,991	126	26%
Montalvin Manor, CA	3,174	127	27%
Berkeley, CA	118,585	194	94%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Norman, OK	118,974	92	-8%
Ann Arbor, MI	118,087	110	10%
Beaumont, TX	117,729	88	-12%
Allentown, PA	119,624	94	-6%
Vallejo, CA	119,644	131	31%
Berkeley, CA	118,585	194	94%

Source: The Berkeley, CA cost of living data displayed above is derived from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) for 2019.