Route comparison
San Francisco, CA vs Seattle, WA: Cost of Living
Compare San Francisco, CA and Seattle, WA using historical BEA 2024 price indexes and HUD FY2027 2-bedroom FMR benchmarks. Add your own salary, lease and moving quote to a budget summary.
Latest official changes
Data updates affecting this route
These rows are official-source planning signals with data period and last-checked dates. They do not automatically update the current RPP/FMR values on this page until the source dataset is flipped.
San Francisco, CA
CA
- 2024 overall RPP (US=100)
- 115.613
- 2024 housing-rent RPP
- 194.718
- 2024 goods RPP
- 108.465
- HUD FY2027 2-BR FMR
- $3,697/mo
BEA: San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA (Metropolitan Statistical Area). HUD: San Francisco, CA HUD Metro FMR Area (Marin County, San Francisco County, San Mateo County). These historical rows were checked September 14, 2026.
Income tax and payroll deductions are not calculated. Confirm take-home pay for your work and home addresses separately.
Seattle, WA
WA
- 2024 overall RPP (US=100)
- 111.133
- 2024 housing-rent RPP
- 151.314
- 2024 goods RPP
- 103.972
- HUD FY2027 2-BR FMR
- $2,549/mo
City name is shorthand for an area benchmark. This September 2026 review did not recheck this area's full BEA/HUD geographic mapping.
Income tax and payroll deductions are not calculated. Confirm take-home pay for your work and home addresses separately.
Historical RPP salary illustration
In the BEA 2024 benchmark, Seattle, WA has a lower overall price level than San Francisco, CA by about 3.9% (RPP 115.613 to 111.133).
$60,000 in San Francisco, CA
-> $57,675
in Seattle, WA
$100,000 in San Francisco, CA
-> $96,125
in Seattle, WA
$150,000 in San Francisco, CA
-> $144,188
in Seattle, WA
Salary illustrations use BEA 2024 overall Regional Price Parities (RPP) only, before tax and household-specific adjustments. Overall RPP already includes housing. HUD FY2027 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent is a separate historical gross-rent benchmark, not a current lease or median rent. Do not add rent to the RPP salary figure. Your lease and moving quote belong in a separate budget. Not financial advice.
Step 2: what will the move itself cost?
Put your actual lease, deposit, overlap rent and mover quote beside the historical salary illustration. Leave amounts you do not yet know blank.
Migration signal: San Francisco, CA vs Seattle, WA
IRS tax-return migration · 2022-2023San Francisco, CA
- Net people
- −31,047
- Net rank
- #61 of 65
- Top origin share
- 24%
- Top destination share
- 13%
Largest source: Santa Clara County, CA. Largest destination: Santa Clara County, CA.
Seattle, WA
- Net people
- −6,565
- Net rank
- #53 of 65
- Top origin share
- 4%
- Top destination share
- 5%
Largest source: Los Angeles County, CA. Largest destination: Thurston County, WA.
Rent delta: Seattle, WA is $1,148/mo lower for HUD FY2027 2-BR FMR than San Francisco, CA. Housing RPP moves from 194.718 to 151.314.
Migration figures are derived from IRS SOI county-to-county migration data for 2022-2023, mapped to metros via Census CBSA delineation. Small county-to-county flows are IRS-suppressed, so per-metro totals are lower bounds. Source: IRS SOI migration data.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Seattle, WA cheaper or more expensive than San Francisco, CA?
- In the BEA 2024 benchmark, Seattle, WA (RPP 111.133) has an overall price level about 3.9% lower than San Francisco, CA (RPP 115.613). This does not measure your current household costs.
- What salary do I need in Seattle, WA if I earn $100,000 in San Francisco, CA?
- The historical RPP illustration is approximately $96,125 in Seattle, WA, using $100,000 x (111.133 / 115.613). It uses BEA 2024 overall price indexes before tax and household adjustments; HUD rent is not added to this figure.
- Which metro had stronger net migration, San Francisco, CA or Seattle, WA?
- For 2022-2023, San Francisco, CA had a net loss of 31,047 people, while Seattle, WA had a net loss of 6,565 people. IRS small-flow suppression means these are lower-bound research signals, not complete population-change totals.