Cost of living comparison
compared to
San Francisco vs. Santa Monica Cost of Living Summary
San Francisco is 32.5% more expensive than Santa Monica.
- Restaurants
-
pay 20.6% more in San Francisco
- Groceries
-
pay 34.7% more in San Francisco
- Transportation
-
pay 15.4% more in San Francisco
- Housing
-
pay 8.0% more in San Francisco
- Childcare
-
pay 2.3 times more in San Francisco
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 12.7% more in San Francisco
- Clothing
-
pay 4.0% more in San Francisco
The cost of childcare, groceries, restaurants, transportation, entertainment and sports, and housing in San Francisco are more expensive than in Santa Monica. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in San Francisco.
San Francisco vs. Santa Monica Cost Breakdown
If you lived in San Francisco instead of Santa Monica, you would:
pay 20.6% more for restaurants
|
Santa Monica
|
San Francisco
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$25.00
|
$30.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.50
|
$14.50
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.83
|
$3.30
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.00
|
$2.59
|
|
Santa Monica vs. San Francisco - Cost of restaurants
pay 34.7% more for groceries
|
Santa Monica
|
San Francisco
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.41
|
$5.06
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.67
|
$11.69
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.71
|
$5.85
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.00
|
$6.26
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.33
|
$6.63
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.00
|
$3.22
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.87
|
$1.31
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.84
|
$2.37
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.53
|
$3.23
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.38
|
$1.67
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.22
|
$1.81
|
|
Santa Monica vs. San Francisco - Cost of groceries
pay 15.4% more for transportation
|
Santa Monica
|
San Francisco
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.74
|
$4.89
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$67.50
|
$90.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$32,727.50
|
$36,753.89
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$18.01
|
$20.31
|
|
Santa Monica vs. San Francisco - Cost of transportation
pay 8.0% more for housing
|
Santa Monica
|
San Francisco
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$69.00
|
$68.78
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$3,175.00
|
$3,446.66
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,533.33
|
$2,736.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$155.53
|
$179.63
|
|
Santa Monica vs. San Francisco - Cost of housing
pay 2.3 times more for childcare
|
Santa Monica
|
San Francisco
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,762.50
|
$3,236.11
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$15,000.00
|
$42,000.00
|
|
Santa Monica vs. San Francisco - Cost of childcare
pay 12.7% more for entertainment and sports
|
Santa Monica
|
San Francisco
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$8.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.58
|
$5.98
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.00
|
$14.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$90.00
|
$109.64
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$18.00
|
$17.00
|
|
Santa Monica vs. San Francisco - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 4.0% more for clothing
|
Santa Monica
|
San Francisco
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$61.25
|
$70.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$44.15
|
$48.82
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$100.09
|
$102.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$149.85
|
$133.67
|
|
Santa Monica vs. San Francisco - 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: December 2025
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