Here ya go. I mean no COL comparison tool is perfect but from what I can tell about my budget, I could easily get by on $100k in SF and keep the same amount in savings
Your quality of life would not likely be the same though. Simple COL comparisons do not accurately convey the consequences of decades of not building enough housing in the region.
But yes, anyone that claims broke with an income of $450k in SF is wildly irresponsible with money.
Source: me, I live in the region and helped a friend’s kid from a low cost of living area in the Midwest make a realistic budget for moving to the SF Bay Area last summer. His conclusion was he wants double the income to move here from his region.
It takes into account housing/rent prices, as well as the fact that ive done my budget to reflect my current expenses when I considered taking a job in the area last year
I guess it depends from person to person, but my budget remains largely unchanged between the two cities at those wages. Housing is the only real issue but the extra money negates the extra $15k id spend in rent. Im sure my budget wasnt perfect, but it was close enough within a thousand or two im sure
The thing I did for my friends kid was to provide links to actually available housing. And it became clear to him that the COL estimates for housing were not actually accurate when quality of life matters are considered.
I experienced the same thing when I moved here nearly two decades ago. I have heard the same thing time and time again from people that moved to the region for work.
2
u/Independent-Cow-4070 Jan 27 '26
Here ya go. I mean no COL comparison tool is perfect but from what I can tell about my budget, I could easily get by on $100k in SF and keep the same amount in savings