Overall
- Boulder
- 105.2
Diff -10.4 RPP
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont vs Boulder
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Boulder is 9% less expensive than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont.
9% less expensive
Boulder, CO is 9% less expensive than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 105.2 vs 115.6). A $100,000 salary in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont buys about the same as $90,995 in Boulder; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 115.6 (San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont) vs 105.2 (Boulder)
- $100k in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont ≈ $90,995 purchasing power in Boulder
- Services drives the gap (-89.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:CO 115.6→105.2
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE CA × CO
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA and Boulder, CO sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 10.4 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
Services leads the difference, with Boulder 89.8 points lower than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont to $90,995 in Boulder, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont and Boulder share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 10.6 to 10.4 RPP points. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 53.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (36.8 to 89.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont RPP | Boulder RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 119.1 | 108.5 | 10.6 points San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont higher |
| 2012 | 112.5 | 107.5 | 5.0 points San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont higher |
| 2016 | 116.4 | 105.6 | 10.8 points San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont higher |
| 2020 | 119.6 | 101.7 | 17.9 points San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont higher |
| 2024 | 115.6 | 105.2 | 10.4 points San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Boulder
- 96.1
Diff -12.4 RPP
Services
- Boulder
- 82.7
Diff -89.8 RPP
Rents
- Boulder
- 157.0
Diff -37.7 RPP
| Category | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont | Boulder | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 115.6 | 105.2 | -10.4 |
| Goods | 108.5 | 96.1 | -12.4 |
| Services | 172.6 | 82.7 | -89.8 |
| Rents | 194.7 | 157.0 | -37.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 115.6
Boulder 105.2
Goods
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 108.5
Boulder 96.1
Services
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 172.6
Boulder 82.7
Rents
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 194.7
Boulder 157.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont would need to be in Boulder for the same purchasing power:
| In San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont | In Boulder | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $45,497 | $-4,503 |
| $75,000 | $68,246 | $-6,754 |
| $100,000 | $90,995 | $-9,005 |
| $150,000 | $136,492 | $-13,508 |
$ in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont = in Boulder
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (115.6 → 105.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont
115.6
Cost Index
Boulder
105.2
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Boulder more expensive than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont?
Boulder is 9% less expensive than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont. The overall cost index is 105.2 vs 115.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Boulder equals $100K in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont?
A $100,000 salary in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont has the same purchasing power as $90,995 in Boulder. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont and Boulder?
Rents in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont are indexed at 194.7 while Boulder is at 157.0 (national average = 100). San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.