City comparison
Cost of living in Austin vs San Francisco
One person needs about €2,411 a month in Austin and €3,942 in San Francisco, rent included — Austin is 64% cheaper overall.
Salary you'd need to keep the same lifestyle
Enter your current net monthly pay. We scale it by the full cost basket — rent, groceries, transport, utilities, eating out and internet.
To live in San Francisco the way you live in Austin on €3,000, you need
€4,905/ month net
64% more than today (+€1,905)
- Austin today
- Basket €2,411 · left over €589 (20%)
- San Francisco at the matched salary
- Basket €3,942 · left over €963 (20%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 241% over in San Francisco (very strong) vs 270% in Austin. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇺🇸 Austin
No state income tax and a real tech market, with car costs baked in.
Monthly budget: €2,411
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
🇺🇸 San Francisco
The highest pay on the planet for engineers, and the rent to prove it.
Monthly budget: €3,942
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
Should you move to Austin or San Francisco?
On salary, San Francisco pays more for tech roles (€9,500 versus €6,500 a month), so the money left over after costs is €5,558 in San Francisco at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €1,600 in Austin against €2,900 in San Francisco. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Austin at 73 and San Francisco at 62 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.