San Francisco, California Cost Of Living

F

103%

Overall NAT. AVG.

23%

Goods & Services NAT. AVG.

277%

Housing NAT. AVG.

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2023 and was released from C2ER in January, 2023; 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	San Francisco	California	National
Cost of living	203	141	100
Goods & Services	123	111	100
Groceries	131	116	100
Health care	131	111	100
Housing	377	196	100
Transportation	138	129	100
Utilities	132	129	100

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Cost Of Living Quick Facts

The cost of living in San Francisco is 44% higher than the California average
The cost of living in San Francisco is 103% higher than the national average
San Francisco housing is 277% higher than the national average
California general sales tax is 42% higher than the national average
California state income tax is 56% 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	$148,838	$12,403	$3,473	$4,466
Renters	$100,715	$8,393	$2,350	$3,022

The affordability of the housing market in San Francisco, 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 San Francisco homeowners, the median income is $148,838. This indicates that a monthly maximum of $3,473 should be spent by homeowners on all housing related costs. Renters have a median income of $100,715. This indicates that renters would have a maximum of $2,350 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%	12.3%

Goods & Services

Item	San Francisco	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$26.74	$22.08	21.1%
Beauty Salon	$85.61	$42.88	99.7%
Toothpaste	$3.36	$2.57	30.8%
Shampoo	$1.52	$1.15	32.1%
Movie	$15.41	$11.51	33.9%
Bowling	$24.22	$16.62	45.8%

Groceries

Item	San Francisco	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$5.38	$4.98	8.0%
Fried Chicken	$1.95	$1.58	23.1%
Milk	$3.38	$2.42	39.8%
Potatoes	$3.06	$3.54	13.6%
Pizza	$14.77	$11.49	28.6%
Beer	$10.50	$10.04	4.6%

Health Care

Item	San Francisco	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$154.96	$117.76	31.6%
Doctor	$174.07	$125.34	38.9%
Dentist	$148.07	$107.52	37.7%
Ibuprofen	$12.52	$10.26	22.1%
Lipitor	$492.72	$459.24	7.3%

Housing

Item	San Francisco	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$1,152,300.00	$184,700.00	523.9%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$5,786.08	$1,697.41	240.9%
Apartment Rent	$2,010.00	$949.00	111.8%

Transportation

Item	San Francisco	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$5.42	$3.85	41.0%
Tire Balancing	$76.46	$57.01	34.1%

Utilities

Item	San Francisco	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$267.64	$177.27	51.0%
Phone	$201.38	$189.62	6.2%

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	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Strawberry CDP (Tuolumne County), CA	116	129	28.7%
Rollingwood, CA	3,612	123	23.0%
San Pablo, CA	30,959	123	23.4%
North Richmond, CA	4,258	127	26.7%
Richmond, CA	110,051	137	36.9%
San Francisco, CA	874,784	203	103.2%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Charlotte, NC	873,570	100	0.1%
Indianapolis, IN	869,387	89	11.1%
Columbus, OH	889,079	89	11.4%
Fort Worth, TX	892,221	93	7.1%
Jacksonville, FL	902,488	91	9.2%
San Francisco, CA	874,784	203	103.2%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2023 and was released from C2ER in January, 2023; this is the most current data available.