Cost of living comparison
compared to
San Jose vs. San Francisco Cost of Living Summary
San Jose is 7.4% cheaper than San Francisco.
San Jose vs. San Francisco Cost Breakdown
If you lived in San Jose instead of San Francisco, you would:
pay 12.8% less for restaurants
|
San Francisco
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$30.00
|
$20.50
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$14.50
|
$12.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.30
|
$3.42
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.59
|
$2.44
|
|
San Francisco vs. San Jose - Cost of restaurants
pay 0.6% more for groceries
|
San Francisco
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$5.06
|
$5.00
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$11.69
|
$11.39
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.85
|
$5.64
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$6.26
|
$5.40
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.63
|
$6.98
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.22
|
$2.95
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.31
|
$1.18
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.37
|
$2.62
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$3.23
|
$3.01
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.67
|
$1.94
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.81
|
$2.19
|
|
San Francisco vs. San Jose - Cost of groceries
pay 5.2% less for transportation
|
San Francisco
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.89
|
$4.84
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$90.00
|
$90.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,753.89
|
$36,753.89
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.31
|
$18.41
|
|
San Francisco vs. San Jose - Cost of transportation
pay 2.2% more for housing
|
San Francisco
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$68.78
|
$70.13
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$3,446.66
|
$2,916.67
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,736.00
|
$2,700.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$179.63
|
$221.60
|
|
San Francisco vs. San Jose - Cost of housing
pay 23.8% less for childcare
|
San Francisco
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$3,236.11
|
$1,866.67
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$42,000.00
|
$39,800.00
|
|
San Francisco vs. San Jose - Cost of childcare
pay 2.0% less for entertainment and sports
|
San Francisco
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$9.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.98
|
$5.83
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$14.00
|
$11.50
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$109.64
|
$113.89
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$17.00
|
$16.00
|
|
San Francisco vs. San Jose - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 11.1% less for clothing
|
San Francisco
|
San Jose
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$70.00
|
$56.50
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$48.82
|
$46.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$102.00
|
$88.89
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$133.67
|
$125.00
|
|
San Francisco vs. San Jose - 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: April 2026
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