Seattle, WA vs San Francisco, CA
Moving from Seattle to San Francisco? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($750,279 → $1,149,215 median home) and taxes.
Seattle 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 Seattle, WA, you'd need about $104,276 in San Francisco, CA (+$4,276).
Livability — Seattle, WA: 48 · San Francisco, CA: 35 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,200 sqft in Seattle vs 653 sqft in San Francisco ($417 vs $766 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Seattle, WA | San Francisco, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $26,784 | $39,096 | +$12,312 |
| Groceries | $5,405 | $5,761 | +$356 |
| Transportation | $4,075 | $5,125 | +$1,050 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $3,804 | +$2,256 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,500 | +$0 |
| Taxes | $8,826 | $24,108 | +$15,282 |
| Total | $48,138 | $79,394 | +$31,256 |
Side by side
| Metric | Seattle, WA | San Francisco, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 112.7 | 117.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.59% | 5.22% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.1% | 1.1% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 47 | 53 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.41 | $6.69 |
| Median home price | $750,279 | $1,149,215 |
| Home price ÷ income | 7.0× | 8.9× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.9% | -0.8% |
| Price per square foot | $417 | $766 |
| Median rent | $2,232 | $3,258 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.7% | 13.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.38% | 8.82% |
| Capital gains tax | 7.00% | 13.30% |
| Property tax rate | 0.88% | 0.72% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,600 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 33 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,600 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $700 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $700 | $950 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.4 | 35.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.55 | 4.85 |
| Violent crime /100k | 375 | 500 |
| Avg summer high °F | 76 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 37 | 45 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 5 |