Cost of living comparison

Austria

compared to

United States

San Francisco vs. Vienna Cost of Living Summary

San Francisco is 67.1% more expensive than Vienna.

Restaurants: pay 21.0% more in San Francisco
Groceries: pay 47.0% more in San Francisco
Transportation: pay 9.1% more in San Francisco
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in San Francisco
Childcare: pay 3.6 times more in San Francisco
Entertainment and Sports: pay 63.2% more in San Francisco
Clothing: pay 6.8% more in San Francisco

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

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San Francisco vs. Vienna Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 21.0% more for restaurants

	Vienna	San Francisco
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.92 €16.00	$27.15	+51.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.44 €12.00	$15.00	+11.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.81 €3.40	$3.16	-17.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$3.19 €2.85	$2.70	-15.4%
Average			+21.0%

Vienna vs. San Francisco - Cost of restaurants

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pay 47.0% more for groceries

	Vienna	San Francisco
Bread 1 loaf	$2.22 €1.98	$5.31	+138.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.80 €6.08	$8.16	+19.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.92 €5.28	$6.63	+12.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.62 €4.13	$4.93	+6.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$6.29 €5.62	$6.99	+11.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.32 €1.18	$2.78	+109.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.02 €0.91	$1.30	+27.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.59 €1.42	$2.00	+26.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.84 €1.64	$3.11	+69.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.87 €0.78	$1.34	+53.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.80 €0.72	$1.67	+107.4%
Average			+47.0%

Vienna vs. San Francisco - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.1% more for transportation

	Vienna	San Francisco
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.63 €6.82	$5.78	-24.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$57.11 €50.99	$95.00	+66.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,661.80 €26,484.93	$36,998.00	+24.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.39 €20.00	$20.39	-9.0%
Average			+9.1%

Vienna vs. San Francisco - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Vienna	San Francisco
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.45 €28.08	$76.29	+142.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,271.42 €1,135.24	$3,735.00	+193.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$899.29 €802.97	$2,618.75	+191.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$235.43 €210.22	$164.32	-30.2%
Average			+133.7%

Vienna vs. San Francisco - Cost of housing

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pay 3.6 times more for childcare

	Vienna	San Francisco
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$354.58 €316.61	$2,942.94	+730.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,740.53 €24,769.44	$42,562.50	+53.4%
Average			+256.9%

Vienna vs. San Francisco - Cost of childcare

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pay 63.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Vienna	San Francisco
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.93 €5.30	$8.00	+34.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.12 €4.57	$5.97	+16.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.45 €6.65	$12.00	+61.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.51 €33.49	$121.54	+224.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.28 €12.75	$18.00	+26.1%
Average			+63.2%

Vienna vs. San Francisco - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.8% more for clothing

	Vienna	San Francisco
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$87.06 €77.73	$76.17	-12.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.42 €33.41	$47.67	+27.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$90.63 €80.92	$101.08	+11.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$132.59 €118.39	$138.64	+4.6%
Average			+6.8%

Vienna 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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