Cost of living comparison
compared to
Long Beach vs. San Francisco Cost of Living Summary
Long Beach is 20.2% cheaper than San Francisco.
Long Beach vs. San Francisco Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Long Beach instead of San Francisco, you would:
pay 10.5% less for restaurants
|
San Francisco
|
Long Beach
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$30.00
|
$20.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$14.50
|
$15.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.30
|
$3.40
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.59
|
$2.20
|
|
San Francisco vs. Long Beach - Cost of restaurants
pay 23.1% less for groceries
|
San Francisco
|
Long Beach
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$5.06
|
$3.76
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$11.69
|
$6.10
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.85
|
$4.28
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$6.26
|
$3.81
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.63
|
$7.35
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.22
|
$2.37
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.31
|
$0.77
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.37
|
$2.36
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$3.23
|
$2.56
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.67
|
$1.51
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.81
|
$1.32
|
|
San Francisco vs. Long Beach - Cost of groceries
pay 13.1% more for transportation
|
San Francisco
|
Long Beach
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.89
|
$4.80
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$90.00
|
$69.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,753.89
|
$26,999.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.31
|
$41.42
|
|
San Francisco vs. Long Beach - Cost of transportation
pay 27.1% less for housing
|
San Francisco
|
Long Beach
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$68.78
|
$57.25
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$3,446.66
|
$2,258.33
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,736.00
|
$2,080.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$179.63
|
$120.42
|
|
San Francisco vs. Long Beach - Cost of housing
pay 50.5% less for childcare
|
San Francisco
|
Long Beach
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$3,236.11
|
$1,666.67
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$42,000.00
|
$20,000.00
|
|
San Francisco vs. Long Beach - Cost of childcare
pay 21.6% less for entertainment and sports
|
San Francisco
|
Long Beach
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$7.50
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.98
|
$5.71
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$14.00
|
$11.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$109.64
|
$39.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$17.00
|
$15.10
|
|
San Francisco vs. Long Beach - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 21.9% less for clothing
|
San Francisco
|
Long Beach
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$70.00
|
$49.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$48.82
|
$32.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$102.00
|
$102.33
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$133.67
|
$102.25
|
|
San Francisco vs. Long Beach - Cost of clothing
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: October 2026
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