COMPARE COST OF LIVING
Suffolk County, NY→San Francisco County, CA
This estimate matches your purchasing power (equivalent salary) when moving from Suffolk County, NY to San Francisco County, CA.
* Living index is estimated from (estimated total cost / median_income of area) * 100.A living index above 100% means costs exceed median income.
Cost of Living Breakdown by Category
Summary/TLDR:
Total costs in Suffolk County, NY and San Francisco County, CA are within about 2.29% of each other. The move is less about overall savings and more about swapping which categories are expensive: you’ll feel the difference in specific areas like Transport, not in your entire budget. Moving can lead to some savings in Transport, and Healthcare According to the Economic Policy Institute’s 2025 Family Budget data, Suffolk County, NY's Transport costs are 39.89% higher ($14,196 vs. $8,533), driving a large part of the cost difference. Movers could potentially save $5,663 in annual expenses. Housing, Food, Other Costs and Taxes costs for San Francisco County, CA , however, rise slightly.
Since Transport is one of the biggest drivers of living costs, this gap alone can noticeably change how the move feels month to month. If you drive a lot or have multiple vehicles, this category can quickly add up in your day-to-day costs.
Below we break down the key differences driving this gap.
What changed the most?
The following numbers represent which categories have the highest and lowest cost increase when moving to San Francisco County, CA.
$20,474 per year
HOUSING costs are highest in San Francisco County, CA.
$8,533 per year
TRANSPORT costs are lowest in San Francisco County, CA.
Breakdown of price percentages per category.
Numbers are average costs per section.
| Category | Difference | |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | 25.00% higher | |
| Food | 21.81% higher | |
| Transport | -39.89% lower | |
| Healthcare | -12.50% lower | |
| Other Costs | 24.41% higher | |
| Taxes | 0.08% higher |
In your new location your total average costs would be $71029.00 compared to your previous average costs of $69437.00.
The higher price could be attributed to different factors. For example, larger differences, the delta could be attributed to the fact that a city is a metropolitan location.
In this case San Francisco County, CA and Suffolk County, NY are both metropolitan locations.
Use our map to visually compare multiple counties at once.
