Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

United States

San Francisco vs. Riyadh Cost of Living Summary

San Francisco is 2.3 times more expensive than Riyadh.

Restaurants: pay 3.0 times more in San Francisco
Groceries: pay 2.0 times more in San Francisco
Transportation: pay 78.7% more in San Francisco
Housing: pay 2.8 times more in San Francisco
Childcare: pay 4.8 times more in San Francisco
Entertainment and Sports: pay 69.1% more in San Francisco
Clothing: pay 10.8% more in San Francisco

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

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San Francisco vs. Riyadh Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.0 times more for restaurants

	Riyadh	San Francisco
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.99 SAR29.99	$27.15	+239.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.99 SAR29.99	$15.00	+87.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$3.16	+261.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 SAR1.18	$2.70	+761.5%
Average			+204.8%

Riyadh vs. San Francisco - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.0 times more for groceries

	Riyadh	San Francisco
Bread 1 loaf	$1.29 SAR4.83	$5.31	+312.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.27 SAR19.77	$8.16	+54.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.76 SAR25.38	$6.63	-2.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.08 SAR11.57	$4.93	+59.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 SAR16.27	$6.99	+61.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 SAR4.88	$2.78	+113.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$1.30	+49.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 SAR4.23	$2.00	+77.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 SAR2.99	$3.11	+290.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 SAR2.04	$1.34	+146.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 SAR2.21	$1.67	+182.6%
Average			+103.5%

Riyadh vs. San Francisco - Cost of groceries

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pay 78.7% more for transportation

	Riyadh	San Francisco
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.35 SAR8.81	$5.78	+146.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.31 SAR139.97	$95.00	+154.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,642.08 SAR130K	$36,998.00	+6.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.12 SAR67.99	$20.39	+12.5%
Average			+78.7%

Riyadh vs. San Francisco - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.8 times more for housing

	Riyadh	San Francisco
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$71.73 SAR269.13	$76.29	+6.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,186.87 SAR4,453.00	$3,735.00	+214.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$833.69 SAR3,127.91	$2,618.75	+214.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$81.86 SAR307.12	$164.32	+100.7%
Average			+178.4%

Riyadh vs. San Francisco - Cost of housing

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pay 4.8 times more for childcare

	Riyadh	San Francisco
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$530.73 SAR1,991.25	$2,942.94	+454.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,105.80 SAR37,915.67	$42,562.50	+321.2%
Average			+383.3%

Riyadh vs. San Francisco - Cost of childcare

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pay 69.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Riyadh	San Francisco
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.13 SAR8.00	$8.00	+275.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.28 SAR16.06	$5.97	+39.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.73 SAR28.99	$12.00	+55.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$89.94 SAR337.43	$121.54	+35.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.32 SAR49.99	$18.00	+35.1%
Average			+69.1%

Riyadh vs. San Francisco - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.8% more for clothing

	Riyadh	San Francisco
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.30 SAR218.72	$76.17	+30.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$54.26 SAR203.59	$47.67	-12.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.59 SAR384.92	$101.08	-1.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.93 SAR389.92	$138.64	+33.4%
Average			+10.8%

Riyadh 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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