Reno, NV vs San Francisco, CA
Moving from Reno to San Francisco? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($570,546 → $1,149,215 median home) and taxes.
Reno vs San Francisco at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Reno, NV, you'd need about $119,919 in San Francisco, CA (+$19,919).
Livability — Reno, NV: 62 · San Francisco, CA: 35 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,665 sqft in Reno vs 653 sqft in San Francisco ($300 vs $766 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Reno, NV | San Francisco, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $23,736 | $39,096 | +$15,360 |
| Groceries | $4,841 | $5,761 | +$920 |
| Transportation | $4,740 | $5,125 | +$385 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $3,804 | +$2,256 |
| Insurance | $1,300 | $1,500 | +$200 |
| Taxes | $5,060 | $24,108 | +$19,049 |
| Total | $41,225 | $79,394 | +$38,169 |
Side by side
| Metric | Reno, NV | San Francisco, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.0 | 117.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.01% | 5.22% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 9.2% | 1.1% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.58 | $6.69 |
| Median home price | $570,546 | $1,149,215 |
| Home price ÷ income | 7.0× | 8.9× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 0.0% | -0.8% |
| Price per square foot | $300 | $766 |
| Median rent | $1,978 | $3,258 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.6% | 13.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.23% | 8.82% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 13.30% |
| Property tax rate | 0.48% | 0.72% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,400 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $11,000 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.12% | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 22 | 33 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,300 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $500 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $400 | $950 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.3 | 35.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.20 | 4.85 |
| Natural gas / mo | $48 | $72 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $80 | $138 |
| Home internet / mo | $89 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 460 | 500 |
| Avg summer high °F | 95 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 45 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 7.4 | 22.9 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 22.0 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 82% | 66% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 5 |