City comparison
Cost of living in San Francisco vs London
One person needs about €3,942 a month in San Francisco and €3,468 in London, rent included — London is 12% 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 London the way you live in San Francisco on €3,000, you need
€2,639/ month net
12% less than today (-€361)
- San Francisco today
- Basket €3,942 · left over -€942 (-31%)
- London at the matched salary
- Basket €3,468 · left over -€829 (-31%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 161% over in London (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
🇬🇧 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
Should you move to San Francisco or London?
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: €2,900 in San Francisco against €2,400 in London. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores San Francisco at 62 and London at 64 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.