California cost of living
Prices in California run at 110.7 against a national average of 100, which makes it the most expensive of the 51 jurisdictions. Housing is the part that separates states: rents there sit at 154.3.
Where the difference actually is
California is one of the most expensive places the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures, at 110.7 against a national 100, ranking #1 of 51 states. Prices run 10.7 per cent above national, which is enough to swallow a substantial pay rise on its own.
Housing is doing nearly all of the work. Rents sit at 154.3 while goods sit at 106.1, a gap of 43.6 points between what it costs to live somewhere and what it costs to buy things. Someone who could reduce their housing cost here, by living further out or with fewer rooms, would remove most of the premium. Goods at 106.1 are themselves 6.1 points off national, which is a wide gap for a category that is mostly shipped in.
Comparing a job here against one elsewhere on the headline salary alone will mislead by roughly 10.7 per cent. Adjusting by the parity fixes that.
The vertical line is the national average of 100. Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, SARPP, 2024.
What it costs, in actual money
Parities are ratios. These are the figures behind them for California, drawn from the other datasets on this site.
| California | |
|---|---|
| Median home value | $695,400 |
| Median gross rent | $1,956 a month |
| Median household income | $96,334 |
| Average electricity bill | $160 a month |
| Effective property tax | 0.71% |
Metro areas in California
Within a state, cities and rural areas diverge sharply. A statewide parity averages over that.
| Metro area | All items | Goods | Rents | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont | 115.6 | 108.5 | 194.7 | #1 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim | 113.6 | 106.6 | 170.4 | #3 |
| Napa | 112.6 | 105.2 | 197.4 | #4 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad | 111.9 | 108.0 | 179.3 | #6 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura | 110.5 | 105.2 | 171.1 | #9 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | 110.4 | 105.2 | 211.9 | #10 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville | 109.9 | 105.2 | 164.3 | #11 |
| Salinas | 109.0 | 105.2 | 145.7 | #14 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara | 108.8 | 105.2 | 151.4 | #16 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles | 108.6 | 105.2 | 144.4 | #17 |
| Vallejo | 108.5 | 105.2 | 142.0 | #18 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma | 107.8 | 105.2 | 139.6 | #20 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom | 106.7 | 105.2 | 130.2 | #22 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario | 106.4 | 101.4 | 129.3 | #23 |
| Stockton-Lodi | 105.1 | 105.2 | 115.6 | #30 |
| Yuba City | 104.2 | 105.2 | 108.3 | #34 |
| Modesto | 104.1 | 105.2 | 108.5 | #35 |
| Fresno | 102.2 | 105.2 | 95.7 | #56 |
| Hanford-Corcoran | 101.6 | 105.2 | 93.5 | #61 |
| Chico | 101.2 | 105.2 | 91.9 | #64 |
| Bakersfield-Delano | 100.9 | 105.2 | 90.3 | #70 |
| Redding | 100.7 | 105.2 | 89.4 | #77 |
| Visalia | 99.8 | 105.2 | 84.1 | #92 |
| Merced | 98.3 | 105.2 | 78.6 | #107 |
| El Centro | 95.2 | 105.2 | 66.3 | #162 |
California cost of living: common questions
Is California expensive to live in?
Prices overall are 10.7% above the national average, at a parity of 110.7 where 100 is the country as a whole. It ranks #1 of 51. Goods run at 106.1, rents at 154.3 and other services at 158.9.
What is a salary in California really worth?
The median wage there is $56,940. Adjusted for local prices that buys what $51,436 buys nationally. A state that pays well and costs more can leave a household no better off, and this is the arithmetic that shows it.
What is a regional price parity?
An official measure from the Bureau of Economic Analysis of what a dollar buys in one place against the national average, set at 100. It is built from the same price collection that underlies the consumer price index, extended to compare places rather than time periods. It is the only government measure of cost of living differences between states.
Why is housing treated separately?
Because it carries most of the difference. In California rents sit 43.6 points above the state's overall parity. Goods barely vary between states, since most of them are shipped nationally; services vary more; housing varies enormously. Any cost of living comparison that does not separate housing is mostly measuring housing anyway.