San Francisco, CA vs New Haven, CT
Moving from San Francisco to New Haven? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($1,149,215 → $408,096 median home) and taxes.
San Francisco vs New Haven 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 San Francisco, CA, you'd need about $89,627 in New Haven, CT (−$10,373).
Livability — San Francisco, CA: 35 · New Haven, CT: 58 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 653 sqft in San Francisco vs 2,328 sqft in New Haven ($766 vs $215 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Francisco, CA | New Haven, CT | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $39,096 | $26,232 | −$12,864 |
| Groceries | $5,761 | $4,930 | −$831 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,720 | −$1,405 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $3,480 | −$324 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,600 | +$100 |
| Taxes | $24,108 | $15,543 | −$8,565 |
| Total | $79,394 | $55,505 | −$23,889 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Francisco, CA | New Haven, CT |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 117.6 | 105.4 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.22% | 6.36% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 1.1% | 0.5% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.69 | $5.99 |
| Median home price | $1,149,215 | $408,096 |
| Home price ÷ income | 8.9× | 5.0× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -0.8% | 4.8% |
| Price per square foot | $766 | $215 |
| Median rent | $3,258 | $2,186 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 15.4% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 6.35% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 6.99% |
| Property tax rate | 0.72% | 2.17% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $8,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $16,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 2.07% |
| Avg commute (min) | 33 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,600 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 32.2 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.40 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $106 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $138 | $88 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $66 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 150 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 85 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 18 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 22.9 | 47.1 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 51.7 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 66% | 56% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 4 |