Overall
- Fort Collins-Loveland
- 101.1
Diff -14.5 RPP
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont vs Fort Collins-Loveland
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Fort Collins-Loveland is 12.5% less expensive than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont.
12.5% less expensive
Fort Collins-Loveland, CO is 12.5% less expensive than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 101.1 vs 115.6). A $100,000 salary in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont buys about the same as $87,471 in Fort Collins-Loveland; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 115.6 (San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont) vs 101.1 (Fort Collins-Loveland)
- $100k in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont ≈ $87,471 purchasing power in Fort Collins-Loveland
- Services drives the gap (-90.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:CO 115.6→101.1
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 Fort Collins-Loveland, CO sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 14.5 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
Services leads the difference, with Fort Collins-Loveland 90.4 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 $87,471 in Fort Collins-Loveland, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont and Fort Collins-Loveland share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 21.9 to 14.5 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 54.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (36.2 to 90.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont RPP | Fort Collins-Loveland RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 119.1 | 97.2 | 21.9 points San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont higher |
| 2012 | 112.5 | 104.7 | 7.8 points San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont higher |
| 2016 | 116.4 | 101.4 | 15.0 points San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont higher |
| 2020 | 119.6 | 98.5 | 21.1 points San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont higher |
| 2024 | 115.6 | 101.1 | 14.5 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
Diff -12.4 RPP
Services
Diff -90.4 RPP
Rents
- Fort Collins-Loveland
- 120.6
Diff -74.1 RPP
| Category | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont | Fort Collins-Loveland | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 115.6 | 101.1 | -14.5 |
| Goods | 108.5 | 96.1 | -12.4 |
| Services | 172.6 | 82.2 | -90.4 |
| Rents | 194.7 | 120.6 | -74.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 115.6
Fort Collins-Loveland 101.1
Goods
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 108.5
Fort Collins-Loveland 96.1
Services
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 172.6
Fort Collins-Loveland 82.2
Rents
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 194.7
Fort Collins-Loveland 120.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont would need to be in Fort Collins-Loveland for the same purchasing power:
| In San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont | In Fort Collins-Loveland | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $43,736 | $-6,264 |
| $75,000 | $65,603 | $-9,397 |
| $100,000 | $87,471 | $-12,529 |
| $150,000 | $131,207 | $-18,793 |
$ in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont = in Fort Collins-Loveland
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (115.6 → 101.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont
115.6
Cost Index
Fort Collins-Loveland
101.1
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fort Collins-Loveland more expensive than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont?
Fort Collins-Loveland is 12.5% less expensive than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont. The overall cost index is 101.1 vs 115.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Fort Collins-Loveland equals $100K in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont?
A $100,000 salary in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont has the same purchasing power as $87,471 in Fort Collins-Loveland. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont and Fort Collins-Loveland?
Rents in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont are indexed at 194.7 while Fort Collins-Loveland is at 120.6 (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.