Fresno, California Cost Of Living

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C-

Overall 1%

Goods & Services 12%

Housing 0%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2020 and was released from C2ER in January, 2021; 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	Fresno	California	National
Cost of living	101	141	100
Goods & Services	88	111	100
Groceries	105	115	100
Health care	111	113	100
Housing	100	196	100
Transportation	111	133	100
Utilities	129	127	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Fresno is 28% lower than the California average
The cost of living in Fresno is 1% higher than the national average
Fresno housing is equal to 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	$65,589	$5,466	$1,530	$1,968
Renters	$27,556	$2,296	$643	$827

The affordability of the housing market in Fresno, 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 Fresno homeowners, the median income is $65,589. This indicates that a monthly maximum of $1,530 should be spent by homeowners on all housing related costs. Renters have a median income of $27,556. This indicates that renters would have a maximum of $643 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	Fresno	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$27.50	$18.62	47.7%
Beauty Salon	$50.52	$39.05	29.4%
Toothpaste	$2.52	$2.34	7.6%
Shampoo	$1.06	$1.06	0.3%
Movie	$15.05	$10.68	40.9%
Bowling	$18.25	$14.67	24.4%

Groceries

Item	Fresno	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.36	$4.22	3.3%
Fried Chicken	$2.03	$1.39	46.5%
Milk	$2.27	$2.05	10.8%
Potatoes	$3.20	$3.29	2.7%
Pizza	$10.74	$10.62	1.1%
Beer	$8.99	$9.38	4.2%

Health Care

Item	Fresno	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$127.00	$108.57	17.0%
Doctor	$148.00	$116.17	27.4%
Dentist	$99.60	$99.13	0.5%
Ibuprofen	$10.06	$9.68	4.0%
Lipitor	$502.77	$466.92	7.7%

Housing

Item	Fresno	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$187,500.00	$184,700.00	1.5%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,556.13	$1,197.42	30.0%
Apartment Rent	$901.00	$949.00	5.1%

Transportation

Item	Fresno	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.24	$2.22	45.7%
Tire Balancing	$45.00	$50.07	10.1%

Utilities

Item	Fresno	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$260.15	$167.67	55.2%
Phone	$173.87	$175.64	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, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Bowles, CA	211	116	16%
Malaga, CA	1,246	92	-8%
Biola, CA	1,265	92	-8%
Parlier, CA	14,953	102	2%
Mayfair, CA	4,605	93	-7%
Fresno, CA	513,807	101	1%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Tucson, AZ	527,586	94	-6%
Sacramento, CA	484,530	121	21%
Kansas City, MO	471,767	92	-8%
Albuquerque, NM	556,859	96	-4%
Mesa, AZ	470,456	97	-3%
Fresno, CA	513,807	101	1%

Source: The Fresno, CA cost of living data displayed above is derived from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) for 2020.