City comparison
Cost of living in San Francisco vs Barcelona
One person needs about €3,942 a month in San Francisco and €2,105 in Barcelona, rent included — Barcelona is 47% 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 Barcelona the way you live in San Francisco on €3,000, you need
€1,602/ month net
47% less than today (-€1,398)
- San Francisco today
- Basket €3,942 · left over -€942 (-31%)
- Barcelona at the matched salary
- Basket €2,105 · left over -€503 (-31%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 133% over in Barcelona (adequate) vs 241% in San Francisco. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇺🇸 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
🇪🇸 Barcelona
Beach-and-metro city with the deepest startup scene in southern Europe — and rents that now reflect it.
Monthly budget: €2,105
Sources: INE Spain + Eurostat, HICP & Encuesta de arrendamientos (2025) · 412 community reports
Should you move to San Francisco or Barcelona?
On salary, San Francisco pays more for tech roles (€9,500 versus €2,800 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: €2,900 in San Francisco against €1,450 in Barcelona. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores San Francisco at 62 and Barcelona at 81 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.