Oakland, CA Cost Of Living

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Oakland cost of living index

In the event that the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used. Each cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. If the amount is below 100, it is lower than the national average. If the amount is above 100, it is higher than the national average.
Index	Oakland	California	National
Cost of living index	154	138	100
Index	Oakland	California	National
Goods & Services index	122	110	100
Groceries index	126	115	100
Health care index	123	109	100
Housing index	227	196	100
Transportation index	130	125	100
Utilities index	114	114	100

Displayed above is a general overview of the Oakland, CA cost of living index. The overall cost of living index in Oakland, CA is 154, which is 11% higher than the California average and 54% higher than the national average. The cost of living index is created from the following categories: goods/services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). As you can see, goods/services and housing make up the majority of the overall cost of living index. Everyday goods and services can be a good indicator of the general cost of goods in a given city. In this case, the goods and services in Oakland, CA are 11% higher than the California average and 22% higher than the national average.

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Did you know?

The cost of living in Oakland is 11% higher than the California average.
The cost of living in Oakland is 54% higher than the national average.
The cost of housing in Oakland is 127% higher than the national average.
California general sales tax is 42% higher than the national average.
California state income tax is 55% lower than the national average.

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

Use the salary calculator to compare your current salary in Oakland, CA to any other city. The salary calculator will tell you how much you would need to earn in any given city to maintain the same standard of living based on the cost of living in each city. For example, if the cost of living in the city you are looking to relocate to is higher than the cost of living in Oakland, CA, then you would need to earn more income in order to maintain the same standard of living. To use the Oakland, CA salary calculator, simply enter in the name of the new city, then adjust the slider to your current income. The salary calculator will do the rest and let you know if you need to earn more or less in the new city. You will also see a complete breakdown of the cost of living.

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$100,193	$8,349	$2,338	$3,006
Renters	$40,321	$3,360	$941	$1,210

How much of your monthly income goes to housing can tell you whether or not you can afford housing in Oakland, CA, as well as what the average cost of living is. 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 payment and not more than 36 percent of income on all expenses and debts. In Oakland, CA homeowners have a median income of $100,193. Using that number, you will come up with a maximum of $2,338 per month that can be spent on the cost of housing. For those who are renting instead of owning, the median income is $40,321, which means there is a maximum of $941 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%	10.25%

California Income Tax

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

For those who live in Oakland, CA and want to know what the true cost of living is, they ought to look at both the California income tax rate and the California sales tax rate. By sales tax, we mean the taxes that are included whenever a person is purchasing any goods or services. The amount that is taxed depends upon the particular state, where some states have a sales tax of zero percent while others can have a tax higher than seven percent. In California, the sales tax is 7.25%, while the most you'll pay in surtax is 10.25%. There is also income tax to consider, which is based upon the amount of money made in a year. Just like sales tax, income tax depends upon the particular state but also depends upon what tax bracket the person is in. Income tax for the state can be higher than nine percent in some states to zero percent in others. For those that live in California, the income tax rate ranges between 1% to 13.3%.

Goods & Services

Item	Oakland	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$21.86	$16.09	35.9%
Beauty Salon	$69.62	$37.33	86.5%
Toothpaste	$3.23	$2.45	32.0%
Shampoo	$1.20	$1.00	19.6%
Movie	$11.67	$10.28	13.6%
Bowling	$6.78	$4.93	37.4%

Groceries

Item	Oakland	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.25	$3.80	11.8%
Fried Chicken	$1.51	$1.40	8.1%
Milk	$2.74	$2.01	36.6%
Potatoes	$3.56	$3.01	18.1%
Pizza	$12.11	$9.89	22.5%
Beer	$9.55	$8.90	7.3%

Health Care

Item	Oakland	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$120.71	$102.16	18.2%
Doctor	$138.93	$108.36	28.2%
Dentist	$122.57	$92.53	32.5%
Ibuprofen	$11.92	$9.28	28.4%
Lipitor	$416.12	$425.82	2.3%

Housing

Item	Oakland	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$500,500.00	$184,700.00	171.0%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$2,702.60	$1,202.44	124.8%
Apartment Rent	$1,189.00	$949.00	25.3%

Transportation

Item	Oakland	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.93	$2.24	30.3%
Tire Balancing	$60.44	$46.29	30.6%

Utilities

Item	Oakland	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$230.24	$165.96	38.7%
Phone	$24.33	$28.68	15.2%

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.
North Gate, CA	465	123	23%
Strawberry CDP (Tuolumne County), CA	116	127	27%
Rollingwood, CA	3,231	121	21%
San Pablo, CA	29,991	122	22%
Montalvin Manor, CA	3,174	123	23%
Oakland, CA	412,040	154	54%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Minneapolis, MN	404,670	106	6%
Tulsa, OK	399,906	93	-7%
Miami, FL	432,622	109	9%
Cleveland, OH	389,165	88	-12%
Wichita, KS	388,033	91	-9%
Oakland, CA	412,040	154	54%

Source: The Oakland, CA cost of living data displayed above is derived from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) for 2017.

Oakland, CA Cost of Living