According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a nonprofit nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C., a family of four needs to make $84,133 per year to live in San Francisco comfortably.

KQED reports that “The numbers are similar, but slightly lower, for San Jose-Sunnyvale at $79,261 and the Oakland-Fremont area at $75,064. The main difference comes from the cost of monthly rent, although there are slight differences in health and child-care costs as well. In San Francisco, about 62 percent of the population rents.”

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Hélène Goupil is a former editor at Mission Local who now works independently as a videographer and editor. She's the co-author of "San Francisco: The Unknown City" (Arsenal Pulp Press).

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4 Comments

    1. This isn’t nuts! Seems quite reasonable.

      2 salaried jobs of 42k each
      2 hourly jobs at the rate of $20 / hour

      Hopefully by the time this fictional couple decided to have children they had achieved some degree of career advancement in order to meet the needs of San Francisco.

      Whats nuts about this?

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  1. Thats roughly $65,000 take-home per year after taxes.

    Which gives you $5,416 per month in operating cash.
    – $500 into savings (10%) ($6,000 / year)
    – $450 for family health insurance policy
    – $50 for family vision insurance policy
    – $50 for family dental plan policy
    – $60 for two(2) basic life-insurance policies to cover the kids if either parents die
    – $433 for groceries ($100 week)
    – $100 for the cheapest monthly family cellphone plan
    – $200 for family transportation expenses (BART/MUNI)
    – $200 for family human maintenance (haircuts, gym, soccer, etc)
    – $216 for entertainment ($50/weekend)
    ———————
    Leaves $2,957 for housing

    – $2600 mo – Rent 2 bed / 1 bath
    – $200 utilities

    ———————

    $157.00 month on quarters to wash clothes and ice cream

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