Restaurant Manager Salary in San Francisco, CA: Median $68,609 in 2026
San Francisco (CA) · COL index 214 · Unemployment 3.8% · Metro pop 4,740,000 · Rank #1 of 283 for Restaurant Manager salary
A Restaurant Manager in San Francisco earns an estimated median of $68,609 per year. That figure starts from the California state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($35,970) and scales it by San Francisco's composite cost-of-living index of 214 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $61,494; the 90th percentile reaches $95,045. After federal, California state, and FICA taxes, a single-filer Restaurant Manager takes home approximately $54,311/year — about $4,526/month or $2,089 every other week.
Compared to the national Restaurant Manager median of $61,310, San Francisco pays +11.9%. Relative to the San Francisco median household income of $131,000, a Restaurant Managersalary runs -47.6%. Local unemployment is 3.8%[3], with an estimated 963 annual Restaurant Manager openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (348,900).
Restaurant Manager Snapshot — San Francisco (2026)
Every row cites a primary public dataset. Rent + home values use Zillow where the metro is in the ZHVI/ZORI coverage set; otherwise ACS + census tract fallbacks.
| Metric | San Francisco | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurant Manager median salary | $68,609 | $61,310 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $61,494 | $46,870 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $95,045 | $104,130 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $54,311 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $1,143,246 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $3,161/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $2,900/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $133,780 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 214.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 3.8% | — | [3] |
How Restaurant Manager Salaries Work in San Francisco
City-level wages aren't published directly by BLS for most SOC codes. We build them by anchoring to the California state-level OEWS median ($35,970) and scaling by San Francisco's composite cost-of-living index (214)[1][4]. That index combines Census ACS rent, Zillow ZHVI, BLS CPI, and AdvisorSmith / ApartmentAdvisor inputs to produce one number per metro. When BLS publishes a separate metro-level wage (MSA-level OEWS), that takes priority — a handful of large metros including New York, LA, Chicago, and DC have this coverage.
On top of the gross wage, the standard US payroll stack applies: federal income tax using 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction[8], FICA (Social Security 6.2% up to $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45%)[9], and California state income tax at a 3.7% effective rate ($2,506/yr on the $68,609 median)[10].
San Francisco also sits inside a larger metro labor market where commute patterns, remote-work policies, and adjacent-metro wages compete. A tight labor market (unemployment below 4%) gives candidates pricing power in negotiations. Median household income in the metro is $133,780, which frames what "a good Restaurant Manager salary" means locally: a $$68,609 wage pays about 51% of the median household income on a single earner.
The deterministic identity: take_home = gross − federal − state − FICA − pre_tax. All math runs client-side; nothing is sent to our servers.
Restaurant Manager Salary & Cost-of-Living Context — San Francisco
Buy vs rent in San Francisco
Monthly PITI on the $1,143,246 median home in San Francisco is ~$7,471/mo — vs a $3,161/mo median rent. Rent burden on median household income is 28.4%, which falls within the recommended 30% guideline for housing costs.
Cost of Living Breakdown — San Francisco
Estimated annual expense shares on a $54,311 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to San Francisco's COL index of 214. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by San Francisco's COL index of 214[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $3,498/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in San Francisco
Renting
Buying
At $4,526/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $1,358/mo. San Francisco's typical 1–2BR rent runs $3,161/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $2,900/mo), making rent severely cost-burdened on a median Restaurant Manager salary. For homebuyers, the 19.7× price-to-income ratio is stretched — expect DTI friction on FHA / conventional underwriting without a co-borrower.
How San Francisco Stacks Up for Restaurant Managers
Against 283 major US cities: San Francisco ranks #1 for nominal Restaurant Manager salary, #259 for rent affordability, and #283 for overall purchasing power. High cost of living absorbs much of San Francisco's nominal wage premium. Restaurant Managers here often trade pay for lifestyle, proximity to employers, or family roots — consider nearby metros on a salary-to-COL basis.
Nearby Cities — Restaurant Manager Salary Comparison
San Francisco's closest metros, scaled by each city's cost-of-living index. Useful for relocation decisions where commute or remote-work policies allow a neighboring metro trade-off.
| City | Est. salary | COL | Rent | vs CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA ★ | $68,609 | 214 | $3,498 | — |
| Los Angeles, CA | $106,066 | 173 | $2,050 | +54.6% |
| San Jose, CA | $121,394 | 198 | $2,195 | +76.9% |
| San Diego, CA | $99,935 | 163 | $2,195 | +45.7% |
| Riverside, CA | $74,798 | 122 | $1,750 | +9.0% |
| Sacramento, CA | $77,251 | 126 | $1,450 | +12.6% |
Restaurant Manager Job Market in San Francisco
San Francisco has an estimated 963 annual Restaurant Manageropenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 348,900 national Restaurant Managers[1]. The 3.8% unemployment rate[3] signals a competitive labor market where skilled professionals can push for top-of-band offers.
Top employers in San Francisco
About the profession: Restaurant managers oversee daily operations of food service establishments, managing staff, inventory, customer service, and financial performance. Typical entry requirement: high school diploma; some college preferred. Projected growth through 2034: 5%[2].
Career Progression & Related Professions in San Francisco
Early-career Restaurant Managers in San Francisco start around $61,494, reach the city median ($68,609) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($95,045) at senior / specialized levels.
Related service professions in San Francisco
Calculators for Restaurant Managers in San Francisco
Other professions in San Francisco
Frequently Asked Questions — Restaurant Manager in San Francisco
How much does a Restaurant Manager make in San Francisco, CA?
The estimated median salary for a Restaurant Manager in San Francisco is $68,609/year, scaled from the BLS OEWS California state median ($35,970) by San Francisco's composite cost-of-living index of 214 (US = 100). After federal, California state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $54,311/year or $4,526/month.
Can a Restaurant Manager afford to live in San Francisco?
On $4,526/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $1,358/month. San Francisco's Zillow ZORI median rent is $3,161/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $2,900/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 61.2%, making housing severely cost-burdened for a Restaurant Manager at the local median. Home-buyers face 19.7× price-to-income, needing roughly 19.7 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a Restaurant Manager pay in San Francisco?
On $68,609 gross, a Restaurant Manager in San Francisco pays approximately $6,543 in federal income tax (9.5% effective), $2,506 in California state income tax (3.7% effective), and $5,249 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 20.8%. Some California cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does San Francisco rank for Restaurant Manager salaries vs other cities?
San Francisco ranks #1 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal Restaurant Manager salary, #259 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #283 for purchasing power (salary ÷ COL). The high-purchasing-power cities tend to be mid-size metros with strong local employers and moderate housing costs; the low-ranked cities trade high nominal pay for steep rents.
What is the cost-of-living breakdown for a Restaurant Manager in San Francisco?
On $54,311 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for San Francisco looks like: housing $41,976/yr (77.3%); food $10,975/yr; transportation $7,908/yr; healthcare $5,102/yr; utilities $4,263/yr; savings + discretionary $0/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to San Francisco's COL index of 214 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the Restaurant Manager job market like in San Francisco?
San Francisco's unemployment rate is 3.8% across the metro of 4,740,000. Estimated annual Restaurant Manager openings: ~963 (extrapolated from 348,900 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The tight labor market favors candidates in salary negotiations.
Do San Francisco employers pay above or below the California median for Restaurant Managers?
Yes — San Francisco's estimated Restaurant Manager median of $68,609 is 11.9% above the national median. Higher nominal pay in this city partially offsets the higher cost of living; the real picture depends on housing costs and state taxes.
Methodology — How we compute this page
Wage estimate. The San Francisco median is derived from the California state-level BLS OEWS median ($35,970), scaled by San Francisco's composite cost-of-living index of 214. When BLS publishes a direct MSA-level wage for the occupation, that takes priority over the scaled state median. Percentile bands inherit the same scale factor.
Housing + rent. Median home value uses Zillow ZHVI; median rent prefers Zillow ZORI and falls back to Census ACS median gross rent. HUD Fair Market Rents (50th-percentile 2BR) are shown where HUD publishes the metro. Price-to-income and rent-to-income ratios use the estimated Restaurant Managermedian (not the city's overall median household income) — to reflect the specific role-vs-city affordability picture.
Tax math. Federal tax uses 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction. FICA is Social Security 6.2% up to the $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (+ 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200,000). State tax uses California's 2026 brackets from the state DoR (mirrored via Tax Foundation where the DoR's publication is paywalled or split). Local income taxes (e.g. NYC, Portland-OR supplemental, OH municipal) are NOT included — check your municipal authority for specifics.
Cost of living. The 214index is the composite used by CalcFi's /data/cities.ts, which merges Census ACS, BLS CPI shelter, Zillow ZORI, and commercial COL estimators. The COL-adjusted salary on this page assumes the statewide RPP = 112.2(BEA) approximates the state's purchasing power; cities are then scaled relative to that.
Refresh cadence. BLS OEWS releases annually (typically March); BEA RPP releases annually in December; IRS brackets adjust in October; Zillow ZHVI/ZORI updates monthly; HUD FMR publishes annually in August for the upcoming fiscal year. The dateModified shown above auto-bumps to the most recent retrievedAt on any sourced value the page consumes.
Known limits. Metro-level OEWS coverage is partial — only ~50 large MSAs have separately published occupation wages; the rest inherit state-level estimates scaled by COL. Rent and home data may trail the real-time market by 1–3 months (Zillow) or 8–12 months (ACS). Rankings are capped to the city set in our dataset (283 metros), not every incorporated US city.
Sources
Every number on this page cites a primary public dataset. Last reviewed (auto-bumped on the next ISR refresh after an ETL run).
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — state-level occupational wages — www.bls.gov/oes. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
- California Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
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