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Cost & Benefits

Compare / San Francisco to Tampa

San Francisco, CA vs Tampa, FL

Simple answer

You'd likely save $1,780 a month in Tampa.

This is the HUD 2-bedroom fair-market rent for October 2026 through September 2027. It is not your lease.

The largest cost gap in this pair is Fair Market Rent. The 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gap is $1,780: San Francisco is higher at $3,697 versus $1,917.

California taxes wages at rates up to 13.30%. Florida has no tax on wages. Combined sales tax differs by 2.0 percentage points, higher in California. The effective property tax gap is 0.05 percentage points, higher in Florida.

After a move from California to Florida, these benefit results change for a family of four at $40,000 and a single adult at $18,000: Marketplace premium tax credits, Medicaid and CHIP.

A $75,000 salary in San Francisco lines up with about $65,449 in Tampa on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

San Francisco

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$3,697
HUD area
San Francisco, CA HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$2,435
All-items price parity
115.6
Goods price parity
108.5
Utilities price parity
172.6
Mean commute
32.7 min
Median household income
$135,590

Tampa

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,917
HUD area
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,776
All-items price parity
100.9
Goods price parity
95.5
Utilities price parity
88.5
Mean commute
29.4 min
Median household income
$78,275

Equivalent salary

The first number keeps the same place in the national price level. The second also runs 2026 federal income tax, employee Social Security and Medicare, and a simplified state income tax. Groceries use the BEA goods price parity, not a grocery receipt.

Same buying power

$65,449

Salary in Tampa that matches the 2024 all-items regional price parity.

After state and federal tax

$61,153

Gross salary in Tampa whose after-tax pay buys the same basket, using price parities.

Rent only

$38,890

Scales the salary by the ratio of HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rents. Rent is not the whole budget.

Taxes on the two sides of the move

TaxCaliforniaFlorida
State income tax on wagesup to 13.30%No wage tax
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20269.0%7.0%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.71%0.75%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $2,828 a year in California and $3,016 in Florida. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Florida

Same household, $40,000 a year, scored once in California and once in Florida. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    San FranciscoLikely eligible

    TampaLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    San FranciscoLikely eligible

    TampaLikely eligible

  • WIC

    San FranciscoLikely eligible

    TampaLikely eligible

  • School meals

    San FranciscoLikely eligible

    TampaLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    San FranciscoMaybe

    TampaMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    San FranciscoLikely eligible

    TampaLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    San FranciscoLikely eligible

    TampaLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    San FranciscoUnlikely

    TampaLikely eligible

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    San FranciscoLikely eligible

    TampaLikely eligible

  • SSI

    San FranciscoUnlikely

    TampaUnlikely

Marketplace premium tax credits changes. In San Francisco the result is “Unlikely — Medicaid is the closer program.” In Tampa it is “Likely inside the 2026 subsidy range.” California expanded Medicaid, and this income is in the Medicaid range. Marketplace subsidies are usually not the program in that case.

Medicaid guide for Florida · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

How the salary and tax math works · The reverse city order redirects to this address.