Cost of living comparison
compared to
Saint Paul vs. San Francisco Cost of Living Summary
Saint Paul is 25.5% cheaper than San Francisco.
Saint Paul vs. San Francisco Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Saint Paul instead of San Francisco, you would:
pay 23.5% less for restaurants
|
San Francisco
|
Saint Paul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$30.00
|
$18.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$14.50
|
$10.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.30
|
$2.74
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.59
|
$2.43
|
|
San Francisco vs. Saint Paul - Cost of restaurants
pay 26.9% less for groceries
|
San Francisco
|
Saint Paul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$5.06
|
$3.84
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$11.69
|
$4.68
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.85
|
$3.81
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$6.26
|
$3.19
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.63
|
$5.20
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.22
|
$2.28
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.31
|
$0.54
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.37
|
$2.62
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$3.23
|
$2.36
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.67
|
$1.75
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.81
|
$1.68
|
|
San Francisco vs. Saint Paul - Cost of groceries
pay 6.6% less for transportation
|
San Francisco
|
Saint Paul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.89
|
$3.04
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$90.00
|
$120.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,753.89
|
$36,165.86
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.31
|
$16.18
|
|
San Francisco vs. Saint Paul - Cost of transportation
pay 30.8% less for housing
|
San Francisco
|
Saint Paul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$68.78
|
$75.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$3,446.66
|
$1,244.20
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,736.00
|
$1,008.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$179.63
|
$170.84
|
|
San Francisco vs. Saint Paul - Cost of housing
pay 41.9% less for childcare
|
San Francisco
|
Saint Paul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$3,236.11
|
$1,453.33
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$42,000.00
|
$30,000.00
|
|
San Francisco vs. Saint Paul - Cost of childcare
pay 28.7% less for entertainment and sports
|
San Francisco
|
Saint Paul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$6.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.98
|
$5.15
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$14.00
|
$10.50
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$109.64
|
$41.86
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$17.00
|
$14.00
|
|
San Francisco vs. Saint Paul - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 20.0% less for clothing
|
San Francisco
|
Saint Paul
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$70.00
|
$39.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$48.82
|
$42.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$102.00
|
$84.60
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$133.67
|
$127.50
|
|
San Francisco vs. Saint Paul - 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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