City comparison
Cost of living in London vs San Francisco
One person needs about €3,468 a month in London and €3,942 in San Francisco, rent included — London is 14% 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 London on €3,000, you need
€3,410/ month net
14% more than today (+€410)
- London today
- Basket €3,468 · left over -€468 (-16%)
- San Francisco at the matched salary
- Basket €3,942 · left over -€532 (-16%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 241% over in San Francisco (very strong) vs 161% in London. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇬🇧 London
Salaries are high, everything else is higher — transport alone costs a Tbilisi flat.
Monthly budget: €3,468
Sources: ONS + VOA, CPIH & private rental market summary (2025) · 468 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 London or San Francisco?
On salary, San Francisco pays more for tech roles (€9,500 versus €5,600 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: €2,400 in London against €2,900 in San Francisco. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores London at 64 and San Francisco at 62 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.