San Francisco vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	San Francisco	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$4040	$2844
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$8690	$6700
🏠 One person rent	$2814	$1749
🏘️ Family rent	$4668	$3002
🍽️ Food expenses	$830	$597
🚐 Transport expenses	$179	$337
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$7450	$4145
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	18 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	97	99
😀 Quality of life	95	98
🏙️ Population	874K	5.45M

The cost of living in San Francisco is 42% more expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 7th and 348th ($4040 vs $2844) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 1st in the United States and Australia, respectively. Check the United States vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in San Francisco compared to 1.5 months in Sydney. San Francisco ranked 4th best city to live in the United States vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 30th and 2nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in San Francisco vs Sydney

Prices for goods and services in San Francisco and Sydney are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	San Francisco	Sydney
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.7	$15.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$98.1	$79.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14	$11.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.92	$7.36
☕ Cappuccino	$6.1	$3.85
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.28	$2.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$3172	$2123
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2480	$1437
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4983	$3835
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4258	$2492
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$129	$123
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$199	$190
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$66.7	$51.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.52%	6.09%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10615	$13218
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9151	$7866
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.01	$3.77
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$96.9	$118
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.8	$20.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.29	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.61	$1.84
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.88	$2.46
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.69	$2.13
🥚 Eggs, x12	$7.75	$5.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$22	$13.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.1	$9.78
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$23.9	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.01	$3.56
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.03	$3.1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.42	$3.24
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.97	$4.66
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.87	$2.86
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.36	$2.53
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$2	$0.82
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.34	$2.8
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.8	$15.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.92	$4.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$14	$24.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$13.1	$9.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8	$4.93
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$7.03	$3.1
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.81	$3.03
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$102	$63.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18	$16.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$150	$70.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$33.5	$21.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$70.9	$80.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$111
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1918	$2281
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21243	$21946

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near San Francisco

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.9 mi	Daly	$3252
14 km or 8.4 mi	South San Francisco	$3245
14 km or 8.8 mi	Alameda	$3277
15 km or 9.2 mi	Oakland	$3212
16 km or 10 mi	Albany	$3058
17 km or 10 mi	Berkeley	$3242
17 km or 11 mi	San Bruno	$3264
18 km or 11 mi	El Cerrito	$3073
18 km or 11 mi	Pacifica	$3255
19 km or 12 mi	Richmond	$3083
20 km or 12 mi	Millbrae	$3282
21 km or 13 mi	San Pablo	$3058
22 km or 14 mi	Burlingame	$3346
24 km or 15 mi	San Leandro	$3007
24 km or 15 mi	San Rafael	$4102
26 km or 16 mi	San Mateo	$3831
28 km or 17 mi	San Lorenzo	$2802
28 km or 18 mi	Foster	$3604
29 km or 18 mi	Lafayette	$2929
29 km or 18 mi	Hercules	$2893
31 km or 19 mi	Belmont	$3593
32 km or 20 mi	Hayward	$2910
32 km or 20 mi	Castro Valley	$2983
34 km or 21 mi	San Carlos	$3359
34 km or 21 mi	Walnut Creek	$2984
36 km or 23 mi	Redwood	$3771
37 km or 23 mi	Martinez	$2929
37 km or 23 mi	Danville	$3778
37 km or 23 mi	Pleasant Hill	$2780
38 km or 24 mi	Union	$3137
39 km or 24 mi	San Ramon	$2859
39 km or 24 mi	Vallejo	$2380
39 km or 24 mi	Novato	$3182
39 km or 24 mi	Benicia	$2807
41 km or 25 mi	Concord	$2783
42 km or 26 mi	Menlo Park	$3395
42 km or 26 mi	East Palo Alto	$3382
43 km or 27 mi	Newark	$3261
45 km or 28 mi	Dublin	$3094
46 km or 28 mi	Palo Alto	$3805

Cities near Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2379
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2482
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$2050
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1710
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1695
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1997
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1699
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1821
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1477
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2223
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1867
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1288
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1824
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1815
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$2703
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1979
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2528
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2352
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1896
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1860
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1487
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1766
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1894
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1813
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1798
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1829
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2496
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1928
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1889
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1906
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2269
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1822
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1988
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$2217
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1604
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1864