Kensington, California Cost Of Living

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Overall 100%

Goods & Services 30%

Housing 268%

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	Kensington	California	National
Cost of living	200	140	100
Goods & Services	130	111	100
Groceries	126	118	100
Health care	127	113	100
Housing	368	196	100
Transportation	137	128	100
Utilities	121	118	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Kensington is 43% higher than the California average
The cost of living in Kensington is 100% higher than the national average
Kensington housing is 268% 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	$146,429	$12,202	$3,416	$4,393
Renters	$103,438	$8,620	$2,413	$3,103

The percentage of monthly income spent on housing related expenses can help predict the affordability of housing in Kensington, CA, as well as what the overall cost of living might be. Generally, a good rule to follow is that the debt-to-income (DTI) level you want to maintain is 28 percent or less of your income on your rent or mortgage payments and not more than 36 percent of income on all expenses and debts. In Kensington, homeowners have a median income of $146,429. Using that number, a maximum of $3,416 per month should be allocated to housing expenses. For those who are renting instead of owning, the median income is $103,438, which means there is a maximum of $2,413 to be spent on the costs of renting a home or apartment.

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	Kensington	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	Kensington	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	Kensington	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	Kensington	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$805,200.00	$184,700.00	336.0%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$3,196.29	$1,273.32	151.0%
Apartment Rent	$1,994.00	$949.00	110.1%

Transportation

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

Utilities

Item	Kensington	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%
Kensington, CA	5,602	200	100%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Lebanon, KY	5,604	85	-15%
Alma, AR	5,599	85	-15%
Vinita, OK	5,599	79	-21%
Exeter, PA	5,605	92	-8%
Avra Valley, AZ	5,606	88	-12%
Kensington, CA	5,602	200	100%

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