Cost of living comparison

Sweden

compared to

United States

San Francisco vs. Gothenburg Cost of Living Summary

San Francisco is 95.3% more expensive than Gothenburg.

Restaurants: pay 52.5% more in San Francisco
Groceries: pay 52.5% more in San Francisco
Transportation: pay 1.1% more in San Francisco
Housing: pay 3.0 times more in San Francisco
Childcare: pay 11.4 times more in San Francisco
Entertainment and Sports: pay 50.3% more in San Francisco
Clothing: pay 10.9% more in San Francisco

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

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San Francisco vs. Gothenburg Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 52.5% more for restaurants

	Gothenburg	San Francisco
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.00 SEK128.83	$27.15	+108.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$12.45 SEK123.38	$15.00	+20.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.88 SEK28.60	$3.16	+9.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.31 SEK22.90	$2.70	+16.9%
Average			+52.5%

Gothenburg vs. San Francisco - Cost of restaurants

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pay 52.5% more for groceries

	Gothenburg	San Francisco
Bread 1 loaf	$2.75 SEK27.25	$5.31	+93.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.67 SEK56.20	$8.16	+43.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.33 SEK62.75	$6.63	+4.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.85 SEK38.18	$4.93	+28.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.16 SEK51.20	$6.99	+35.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.38 SEK13.65	$2.78	+101.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.11 SEK11.04	$1.30	+16.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 SEK13.21	$2.00	+50.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.98 SEK19.64	$3.11	+56.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.81 SEK8.00	$1.34	+65.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.75 SEK7.40	$1.67	+123.2%
Average			+52.5%

Gothenburg vs. San Francisco - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.1% more for transportation

	Gothenburg	San Francisco
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.72 SEK66.57	$5.78	-13.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$85.98 SEK852.25	$95.00	+10.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,980.57 SEK327K	$36,998.00	+12.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.55 SEK193.80	$20.39	+4.3%
Average			+1.1%

Gothenburg vs. San Francisco - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.0 times more for housing

	Gothenburg	San Francisco
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$33.52 SEK332.26	$76.29	+127.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,031.40 SEK10,223.93	$3,735.00	+262.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$918.63 SEK9,106.07	$2,618.75	+185.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.29 SEK785.96	$164.32	+107.2%
Average			+195.7%

Gothenburg vs. San Francisco - Cost of housing

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pay 11.4 times more for childcare

	Gothenburg	San Francisco
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$220.01 SEK2,180.89	$2,942.94	+1237.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,384.08 SEK43,458.06	$42,562.50	+870.8%
Average			+1039.6%

Gothenburg vs. San Francisco - Cost of childcare

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pay 50.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Gothenburg	San Francisco
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.95 SEK68.87	$8.00	+15.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.95 SEK49.02	$5.97	+20.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.30 SEK82.25	$12.00	+44.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$35.01 SEK347.09	$121.54	+247.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$18.44 SEK182.84	$18.00	-2.4%
Average			+50.3%

Gothenburg vs. San Francisco - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.9% more for clothing

	Gothenburg	San Francisco
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$88.19 SEK874.24	$76.17	-13.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.97 SEK326.84	$47.67	+44.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.70 SEK869.34	$101.08	+15.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$131.74 SEK1,305.93	$138.64	+5.2%
Average			+10.9%

Gothenburg vs. San Francisco - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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