While contemplating a move to San Francisco a few months ago, I checked out a few “cost of living” calculators to see how much of a hit my lifestyle would take.
The short answer: A ton.
Calculator #1 says that I’d need to earn 83% more to keep me in the opulence that I now enjoy.
Calculator #2 says it’s only 75.94%.
Good Lord.
But what about other countries?
This report gives an index of expensiveness.
So, New York is 100. Atlanta is 71. San Fran is 92. And Oslo is the winner at 132. I’m not sure how the indexing goes, but it sounds as though Oslo is dramatically more expensive than San Fran.
Like, it’s more expensive, in comparison to San Fran, than San Fran is in comparison to Atlanta. That’s insane.
By the way, for my friends and family elsewhere:
Washington DC: 89
Seattle: 82
Denver: Not on the list, but that first calculator says it’s 9.7% more expensive than Atlanta
Melbourne, Australia: 103
London: 125
You were considering moving to SF? Had no idea.
The relative scales more or less mesh with my impressions: Atlanta’s much cheaper than DC, Seattle’s in between, and SF is somewhat more expensive than DC.
I was imagining what life would be like if my completely unexpected phone interview with Google turned into a job.
It didn’t, of course, so I never had to get very serious about it.