San Francisco vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	San Francisco	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3905	$2539
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$8537	$6160
🏠 One person rent	$2719	$1496
🏘️ Family rent	$4421	$2729
🍽️ Food expenses	$804	$522
🚐 Transport expenses	$177	$374
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$7528	$4315
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	18 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	97	100
😀 Quality of life	96	100
🏙️ Population	874K	4.84M

The cost of living in San Francisco is 54% more expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 7th and 745th ($3905 vs $2539) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 5th 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 1.9 months in San Francisco compared to 1.7 months in Sydney. San Francisco ranked 1st best city to live in the United States vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 16th and 2nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in San Francisco vs Sydney infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/san-francisco/sydney.jpg" alt="Cost of living in San Francisco vs Sydney infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/san-francisco/sydney" target="_blank">San Francisco vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

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	$22.3	$13.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$102	$66
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.9	$9.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.59	$7.29
☕ Cappuccino	$5.83	$3.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.07	$2.55
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2797	$1823
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2467	$1225
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4615	$3607
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4053	$2246
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$128	$106
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$198	$165
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$57.6	$45.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.52%	6.4%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$11255	$13272
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10091	$7795
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.71	$3.19
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$92.8	$133
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$20.5	$26.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.7	$1.55
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.48	$2.26
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.7	$2.06
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.5	$4.76
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$24.9	$10.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.4	$8.32
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$22.2	$13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.33	$3.11
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.03	$2.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.48	$3.13
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.96	$3.84
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.47	$2.34
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.28	$2.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.82	$0.87
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.61	$2.41
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$19.2	$13.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.32	$4.35
🚬 Cigarette pack	$14	$28.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$6.73
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.95	$5.01
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.91	$2.66
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.92	$2.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$87.8	$55.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.5	$15.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$148	$58.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$26.2	$20.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$64.4	$80.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$109	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2824	$1992
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$20590	$17957

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	$3190
14 km or 8.4 mi	South San Francisco	$3185
14 km or 8.8 mi	Alameda	$3364
15 km or 9.2 mi	Oakland	$2968
16 km or 10 mi	Albany	$2888
17 km or 10 mi	Berkeley	$2974
17 km or 11 mi	San Bruno	$3195
18 km or 11 mi	El Cerrito	$2929
18 km or 11 mi	Pacifica	$3183
19 km or 12 mi	Richmond	$3004
20 km or 12 mi	Millbrae	$3226
21 km or 13 mi	San Pablo	$2999
22 km or 14 mi	Burlingame	$3269
24 km or 15 mi	San Leandro	$2963
24 km or 15 mi	San Rafael	$3997
26 km or 16 mi	San Mateo	$3678
28 km or 17 mi	San Lorenzo	$2747
28 km or 18 mi	Foster	$3466
29 km or 18 mi	Lafayette	$2888
29 km or 18 mi	Hercules	$2840
31 km or 19 mi	Belmont	$3657
32 km or 20 mi	Hayward	$2811
32 km or 20 mi	Castro Valley	$3041
34 km or 21 mi	San Carlos	$3344
34 km or 21 mi	Walnut Creek	$2932
36 km or 23 mi	Redwood	$3649
37 km or 23 mi	Martinez	$2780
37 km or 23 mi	Danville	$3785
37 km or 23 mi	Pleasant Hill	$2816
38 km or 24 mi	Union	$3002
39 km or 24 mi	San Ramon	$3045
39 km or 24 mi	Vallejo	$2412
39 km or 24 mi	Novato	$3115
39 km or 24 mi	Benicia	$2767
41 km or 25 mi	Concord	$2778
42 km or 26 mi	Menlo Park	$3326
42 km or 26 mi	East Palo Alto	$3286
43 km or 27 mi	Newark	$3060
45 km or 28 mi	Dublin	$3059
46 km or 28 mi	Palo Alto	$3752

Cities near Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2099
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2252
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$1824
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1584
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1416
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1448
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1538
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1616
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1511
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2023
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1702
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1681
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1185
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1457
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1963
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1619
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1601
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$1781
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1727
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2239
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2067
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1654
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1643
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1291
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1504
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1645
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1677
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1600
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1620
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2194
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1691
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1671
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1668
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2016
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1625
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1635
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1748
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$1981
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1390
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1683