San Francisco vs. Arkansas Cost of Living Summary

San Francisco is 79.9% more expensive than Arkansas.

Restaurants
pay 42.1% more in San Francisco
Groceries
pay 74.4% more in San Francisco
Transportation
pay 74.9% more in San Francisco
Housing
pay 2.0 times more in San Francisco
Childcare
pay 2.6 times more in San Francisco
Entertainment and Sports
pay 71.4% more in San Francisco
Clothing
pay 31.8% more in San Francisco

The cost of childcare, housing, transportation, groceries, entertainment and sports, and restaurants in San Francisco are more expensive than in Arkansas. Notably, childcare and housing are significantly more expensive in San Francisco.

San Francisco vs. Arkansas Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Francisco instead of Arkansas, you would:

pay 42.1% more for restaurants

 
Arkansas
San Francisco
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $17.64
 
$30.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$10.93
 
$14.50
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.51
 
$3.30
 

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pay 74.4% more for groceries

 
Arkansas
San Francisco
Bread
1 loaf
$3.23
 
$5.06
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $5.50
 
$11.69
 
Milk (1 gallon) $3.97
 
$5.85
 

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pay 74.9% more for transportation

 
Arkansas
San Francisco
Gasoline (1 gallon) $2.79
 
$4.89
 
Monthly public transit pass $35.67
 
$90.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $29,285.97
 
$36,753.89
 

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pay 2.0 times more for housing

 
Arkansas
San Francisco
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$67.56
 
$68.78
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,168.77
 
$3,446.66
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $935.60
 
$2,736.00
 

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pay 2.6 times more for childcare

 
Arkansas
San Francisco
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,014.29
 
$3,236.11
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $20,052.00
 
$42,000.00
 

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pay 71.4% more for entertainment and sports

 
Arkansas
San Francisco
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $5.21
 
$8.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.04
 
$5.98
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$8.05
 
$14.00
 

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pay 31.8% more for clothing

 
Arkansas
San Francisco
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$51.00
 
$70.00
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$39.19
 
$48.82
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$84.86
 
$102.00
 

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025
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