Cost of Living San Francisco

An Insider’s Guide to Moving to San Francisco

This relocation guide has been designed with the explicit intention to provide expats and travellers with all they need to know about moving to San Francisco.

This exciting chapter covers Cost of Living.

Before moving to San Francisco (or indeed any country) you need to know how much everything costs. This enables you to plan out a sensible budget and how living there will differ from where you are now. This chapter has been crafted to put your costing fears at ease and to show you what the most important facilities and luxuries are going to cost per month.

It is important to note that costs can vary depending on how often you go out and what your lifestyle is. If you love pricy and luxury items and and enjoy splashing out on the best theatre seats, then chances are you’ll be spending more than those that are more rigorous with expenditure. Not that there’s anything wrong in splashing out, obviously.

3.1 Rent

This is one of the first costs that you’ll have to deal with when you arrive. Your rent, depending on the contract you sign, will cover most aspects of upholding the property from gas, electric, water and internet.

It is best to remember that rent prices will vary across the different neighbourhoods of San Francisco and on the overall size of the living space. This is the same in any city in the world, from the delights of London to the cities of New York and Paris. So don’t be surprised if you see some disparity between one neighbourhood and another.

As covered in the first chapter, San Francisco is renown for being one of the most expensive areas within the Californian state and the US. It’s best to take a deep breath.

Don’t forget that serviced apartments in San Francisco offer better amenities and long term prices.

Some of the rent prices can be viewed below:

As you can see, the prices do vary across area and the size of the living space that you’re renting.

These prices may or may not include utilities. Gas, water and electricity should be covered by rent. Internet and other perks may be separate.

3.2 Utilities

We all hate bills. There's nothing more annoying than picking up the post and finding that the whole stack is a load of bills. However, cheer up fellow relocator as those bills give you all the utilities you need to make your tasty meals, keep the property warm and to browse the web.