Berkeley, California Cost Of Living

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Overall 92%

Goods & Services 19%

Housing 247%

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	192	140	100
Goods & Services	119	109	100
Groceries	128	112	100
Health care	122	109	100
Housing	347	196	100
Transportation	140	132	100
Utilities	131	127	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Berkeley is 37% higher than the California average
The cost of living in Berkeley is 92% 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

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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	$21.17	$20.27	4.4%
Beauty Salon	$71.31	$40.39	76.5%
Toothpaste	$3.06	$2.36	29.7%
Shampoo	$1.36	$1.08	26.0%
Movie	$14.19	$10.99	29.2%
Bowling	$20.50	$15.49	32.3%

Groceries

Item	Berkeley	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.24	$4.30	1.3%
Fried Chicken	$1.82	$1.40	30.3%
Milk	$2.78	$2.20	26.2%
Potatoes	$2.98	$3.22	7.5%
Pizza	$12.93	$10.74	20.4%
Beer	$10.32	$9.60	7.5%

Health Care

Item	Berkeley	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$132.96	$109.73	21.2%
Doctor	$139.84	$118.34	18.2%
Dentist	$138.42	$100.94	37.1%
Ibuprofen	$12.22	$9.93	23.0%
Lipitor	$473.62	$469.53	0.9%

Housing

Item	Berkeley	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$795,200.00	$184,700.00	330.5%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$2,714.78	$1,229.62	120.8%
Apartment Rent	$1,434.00	$949.00	51.1%

Transportation

Item	Berkeley	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.95	$2.71	45.7%
Tire Balancing	$68.02	$51.86	31.2%

Utilities

Item	Berkeley	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$266.98	$170.84	56.3%
Phone	$185.39	$187.18	1.0%

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	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Strawberry CDP (Tuolumne County), CA	116	128	28.5%
Rollingwood, CA	3,231	123	23.4%
Port Costa, CA	228	124	23.5%
San Pablo, CA	29,991	124	23.8%
Montalvin Manor, CA	3,174	125	24.9%
Berkeley, CA	118,585	192	91.9%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Waterloo, ON	118,234	n/a
Norman, OK	118,974	91	9.3%
Ann Arbor, MI	118,087	111	11.5%
Terrebonne, QC	119,135	n/a
Beaumont, TX	117,729	87	13.5%
Berkeley, CA	118,585	192	91.9%

Source: This data reflects 2021 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; this is the most current data available.