#22 of 66 for you
San Francisco, CA
Dense, walkable, cold in July, and priced for two incomes.
Left over monthly
$2,390
Versus Chicago
+$10/mo
+$120 a year
Local pay for your job
$125,705
Local wages run 34% vs national
Where the money goes
One earner filing as a household, at 1 bedrooms.
- Taxes$3,063
- Rent$2,609
- Other living costs$2,414
- Left over$2,390
Pay and tax, per year
- Gross household pay
- $125,705
- Federal income tax
- −$19,416
- Social Security and Medicare
- −$9,616
- State income tax (CA)
- −$7,718
- Take-home pay
- $88,955
- Effective tax rate
- 29.2%
Living costs, per month
- Rent, 1br
- $2,609
- Groceries
- $512
- Getting around
- $558
- Healthcare
- $576
- Utilities and internet
- $320
- Everything else
- $448
- Total spending
- $5,023
Left over each month
$10,475 gross, minus $3,063 in tax and $5,023 in living costs.
$2,390
What living here is like
- Weather
- 259 sunny days, 68°F in July, 46°F January nights
- Getting around
- One car for the household is workable
- Average commute
- 32 minutes each way
- Size
- 4.6M people
- Buying instead
- Median home $1,113,800 — roughly $7,321/mo with 20% down, tax and upkeep
- Taxes
- California income tax. Sales tax 8.8%, property tax 0.72%.
How it scores against what you said matters
- Money left over
- 56
- Sun and mild weather
- 86
- Access to the outdoors
- 88
- City life and culture
- 92
- A short commute
- 30
Chicago vs San Francisco, line by line
Same job, same household, both tax codes applied.
Open the comparison →Also worth a look
- Seattle, WA$3,406/mo
No state income tax and high wages, offset by home prices and 150 sunny days.
- Austin, TX$3,176/mo
No income tax, but property taxes are among the steepest anywhere.
- Houston, TX$3,159/mo
The cheapest housing of any top-10 metro, paid for in property tax and humidity.
- Dallas, TX$3,044/mo
No income tax, endless new construction, and a 1.5% property tax bill.