Overall
Diff -3.0 RPP
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont vs New York-Newark-Jersey City
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. New York-Newark-Jersey City is 2.6% less expensive than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont.
2.6% less expensive
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ is 2.6% less expensive than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 112.6 vs 115.6). A $100,000 salary in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont buys about the same as $97,362 in New York-Newark-Jersey City; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 115.6 (San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont) vs 112.6 (New York-Newark-Jersey City)
- $100k in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont ≈ $97,362 purchasing power in New York-Newark-Jersey City
- Rents drives the gap (-46.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:NY 115.6→112.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE CA × NY
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +1.8 RPP
Services
Diff -45.6 RPP
Rents
Diff -46.1 RPP
| Category | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont | New York-Newark-Jersey City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 115.6 | 112.6 | -3.0 |
| Goods | 108.5 | 110.3 | +1.8 |
| Services | 172.6 | 127.0 | -45.6 |
| Rents | 194.7 | 148.6 | -46.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 115.6
New York-Newark-Jersey City 112.6
Goods
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 108.5
New York-Newark-Jersey City 110.3
Services
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 172.6
New York-Newark-Jersey City 127.0
Rents
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 194.7
New York-Newark-Jersey City 148.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: New York-Newark-Jersey City is 46.1 points lower. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ is 2.6% less expensive than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.0-point overall gap.
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.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont corresponds to $97,362 in New York-Newark-Jersey City.
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont
115.6
Cost Index
New York-Newark-Jersey City
112.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont would need to be in New York-Newark-Jersey City for the same purchasing power:
| In San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont | In New York-Newark-Jersey City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,681 | $-1,319 |
| $75,000 | $73,021 | $-1,979 |
| $100,000 | $97,362 | $-2,638 |
| $150,000 | $146,043 | $-3,957 |
$ in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont = in New York-Newark-Jersey City
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (115.6 → 112.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont and New York-Newark-Jersey City share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 5.6 to 3.0 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 75.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (30.3 to 45.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont RPP | New York-Newark-Jersey City RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 119.1 | 113.5 | 5.6 points San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont higher |
| 2012 | 112.5 | 113.8 | 1.2 points New York-Newark-Jersey City higher |
| 2016 | 116.4 | 113.7 | 2.7 points San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont higher |
| 2020 | 119.6 | 115.6 | 4.0 points San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont higher |
| 2024 | 115.6 | 112.6 | 3.0 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is New York-Newark-Jersey City more expensive than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont?
New York-Newark-Jersey City is 2.6% less expensive than San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont. The overall cost index is 112.6 vs 115.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in New York-Newark-Jersey City equals $100K in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont?
A $100,000 salary in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont has the same purchasing power as $97,362 in New York-Newark-Jersey City. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont and New York-Newark-Jersey City?
Rents in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont are indexed at 194.7 while New York-Newark-Jersey City is at 148.6 (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.