San Francisco, CA · Chicago, IL
Chicago is 47% cheaper than San Francisco overall.
Home Price
San: $1,350,000
Chicago: $315,000
Monthly Rent
San: $3,498/mo
Chicago: $2,288/mo
COL Index
San: 214
Chicago: 114
Median Income
San: $131,000
Chicago: $70,100
Median Home Price
Monthly Rent (Median)
Median Household Income
Property Tax Rate
Cost of Living Index
100 = national average
Avg. Commute
Unemployment Rate
Median Age
A $100,000 salary in San Francisco has the same purchasing power as $53,271 in Chicago — based on each city's cost of living index.
Homes in Chicago cost 77% more (-$1,035,000 extra). Expect a larger mortgage and down payment.
Renting in Chicago saves you $1,210/month — $14,520 per year. Median rent: $3,498/mo in San Francisco vs $2,288/mo in Chicago.
On a median-priced home, San Francisco owners pay roughly $8,505/year in property taxes vs $6,615/year in Chicago. That's a $1,890 annual difference.
Median household income is $131,000 in San Francisco and $70,100 in Chicago. Chicago residents earn 46% more — but remember to factor in cost of living.
Average commute is 34 minutes in San Francisco vs 31 minutes in Chicago. Commute times are nearly identical.
To maintain the same lifestyle when moving from San Francisco to Chicago, here's the salary you'd need:
| Salary in San Francisco | Equivalent in Chicago | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $26,636 | -$23,364 |
| $75,000 | $39,953 | -$35,047 |
| $100,000 | $53,271 | -$46,729 |
| $150,000 | $79,907 | -$70,093 |
| $200,000 | $106,542 | -$93,458 |
* Calculated using cost of living indices (national average = 100). Does not account for state income tax differences.
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Cost of Living
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Property Tax Calculator
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Based on cost of living indices, Chicago is cheaper overall. San Francisco has a COL index of 214 while Chicago scores 114 (national average = 100).
The median home price in San Francisco is $1,350,000 vs $315,000 in Chicago — a difference of $1,035,000 (77%).
Use the salary equivalence table above. For example, a $100K salary in San Francisco is equivalent to $53,271 in Chicago in terms of purchasing power.
San Francisco has a lower property tax rate (0.63% vs 2.1%). On a median-priced home, that means paying $6,615/year vs $8,505/year.
Median monthly rent: $3,498 in San Francisco vs $2,288 in Chicago. Annualized: $41,976 vs $27,456.
San Francisco: $131,000/yr. Chicago: $70,100/yr (Census ACS).
Lower-cost Chicago typically lets remote-workers keeping a coastal salary stretch further. Higher-cost cities usually win on amenities and labor-market depth.
Numbers are pulled from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI (home values, rent), the U.S. Census Bureau ACS (income), and BEA RPP (cost-of-living index). Each value is timestamped on the page.
Source feeds refresh on their native cadence — hourly for mortgage rates, monthly for ZHVI/ZORI, annually for ACS. Page caches revalidate every 24 hours via Next.js ISR.
No. This page is educational reference using public data and standard formulas. It is not personalized tax, legal, or investment advice. Consult a licensed professional for material decisions.
City-level metrics (median home price, median rent, median household income, property tax rate, COL index, commute, unemployment, median age) are sourced from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI[1], Census ACS 5-year estimates[2], BEA Regional Price Parities[3], Tax Foundation[4], and BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics[5].
The Cost of Living Index uses 100 = national average (C2ER methodology[6]): values above 100 indicate a city is more expensive than the national average, below 100 less expensive.
Salary equivalence uses the ratio adjustedSalary = salary × (colDestination / colOrigin). This accounts for cost-of-living differences but does not model state income tax variation, which can be significant.
Annual property tax is computed as medianHomePrice × propertyTaxRate. Actual assessed value may differ from sale price. Effective rates vary within a metro; these are metro-wide medians.
Commute-hours calculations assume 250 working days/year and a round-trip commute. "Tied" in the comparison table means values within ±1% of each other.
Last reviewed reflects the maximum retrievedAt timestamp across every sourced dataset feeding this page. When any source refreshes, the next ISR revalidation (every 24 hours) picks the new date.
Cost of living data sourced from [6] C2ER, [2] U.S. Census Bureau, and [1] Zillow Research. Tax rates from [4] Tax Foundation. Last reviewed .