USLivingCost Salaries · Rent · Cost of Living

San Francisco, CA vs. Santa Ana, CA

Median rent is $2,419 a month in San Francisco, CA and $1,975 in Santa Ana, CA. Household income is $141,446 against $88,354. Both cities are read from the same ACS 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates and the same BEA Regional Price Parities 2023, so the two columns below are directly comparable.

$
Same standard of living
A salary of $100,000 in San Francisco, CA buys what $95,226 buys in Santa Ana, CA
-$4,774 less to keep the same standard of living
Median gross rent Monthly
$2,419 $1,975 -18.4%
Median household income Annual
$141,446 $88,354 -37.5%
Median home value Owner-occupied
$1,380,500 $657,800 -52.4%
Rent as share of income Annual rent ÷ income
20.5% 26.8% 6.3 pp
Price level U.S. average = 100
118.2 112.6 -4.7%
Salary needed for median rent Keeps rent at 30% of gross
$96,800 $79,000 -18.4%
Rent median income carries at 30% Affordable rent
$3,536 $2,209 -37.5%
Population City proper
836,321 311,639 -62.7%
Equivalent salary For $100,000 in San Francisco
$100,000 $95,226 -4.8%

A green or red badge means the second city is higher or lower, not better or worse: a lower rent is good for a tenant, a lower household income is not. For the price level and
the share of income the raw values are shown, because a percentage difference between two
percentages is easy to misread.

What the gap means

Lower rent
$1,975
Santa Ana, CA · 22.5% below San Francisco, CA
Higher household income
$141,446
San Francisco, CA · 60.1% above Santa Ana, CA
Same standard of living
$95,226
$100,000 in San Francisco, CA needs $95,226 in Santa Ana, CA
Price level gap
5.6 points
118.2 in CA against 112.6 in CA
Rent burden gap
6.3 points
Santa Ana, CA versus San Francisco, CA, share of income taken by rent
Highest buying power
88.8%
Santa Ana, CA · share of the national average income that a dollar there buys

More comparisons with San Francisco, CA

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Definitions used on this page

Salary needed for the median rent
Twelve months of median gross rent divided by 0.30: the income that keeps the median rent at 30% of gross pay.
Price level
BEA regional price parity for the metro area where one is published, otherwise for the state. The national average is 100.
Same standard of living
A salary in San Francisco, CA converted into Santa Ana, CA at the ratio of the two price levels. It adjusts for prices only, not for taxes or for what either city offers.
Buying power
One hundred divided by the price level: what a dollar buys locally relative to the national average.

Sources

Margins of error are published for every Census figure. Read the methodology before reading a small gap between two cities as a real difference.

Full detail for each city: San Francisco, CA · Santa Ana, CA