$225,000 in San Francisco ≈ CA$268,972 in Toronto
Software engineer pay: San Francisco vs Toronto
Equivalence is solved so household net cash matches across both cities, with taxes, housing, childcare, healthcare, food, and travel all included.
The bottom line
- →$225,000 in San Francisco leaves about the same net cash as CA$268,972 in Toronto for this scenario, after real taxes and living costs.
- →Taxes take 30.6% of gross in San Francisco versus 33.9% in Toronto.
- →The biggest non-cash swing: 10 more vacation days per year in Toronto.
Where each paycheck goes
Every unit of gross, split four ways. Same net cash, very different shape.
Full Breakdown
| Category | San Francisco | Toronto | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | $225,000 | CA$268,972 ($193,505) | Equivalent |
| Income + payroll tax | −$68,959 (30.6%) | −CA$91,293 (33.9%) | A touch higher |
| Housing (rent) | −$43,307 1 bed listings typically $2,706 to $4,092 | −CA$32,627 1 bed listings typically CA$1,968 to CA$2,976 | ~46% less |
| Healthcare (household) | −$4,220 | −CA$1,620 | Universal |
| Food & groceries | −$10,800 | −CA$9,118 | ~39% less |
| Transit | −$972 | −CA$1,872 | ~39% more |
| Discretionary spending | −$3,750 | −CA$3,200 | ~39% less |
| Travel home | −$300 | −CA$400 | Similar |
| Net cash kept | $92,692 | CA$128,841 | Equal in real terms |
Live in either city? Flag any number that looks off.
Computed at the city-median tech-worker salary, San Francisco (a senior software engineer). Each figure is in the city's local currency, from the same engine as the calculator; sources are cited per row there.
What changes beyond the money
- Statutory vacation days~0 → ~10
- Total paid days off, typical year~11 → ~19
- Paid parental leave7 wks → 28 wks
- Healthcare systemEmployer / private → Universal
These numbers use one scenario's assumptions. Plug in your own salary, family size, and lifestyle.
Open the interactive calculator to run your own →No signup. Your salary stays in your browser, and we never see it.
An interactive calculator, set to this comparison to start. Paste it where you want the widget, and keep the link under it in place; it is what keeps the widget free to use.
Moving from San Francisco to Toronto for a software engineer
$225,000 in San Francisco requires CA$268,972 in Toronto to match on household net cash. The gap is real, but it is smaller than the nominal numbers suggest once taxes run their course. Progressive brackets compress the after-tax difference faster than a compensation benchmarking site would lead you to believe, because those sites show gross and stop there.
The effective tax rate goes from 30.6% in San Francisco to 33.9% in Toronto. That 3.3-point jump is what the equivalence solver is working against when it finds the matching gross salary.
Unvested equity changes this calculation entirely. RSU value is not modeled in the defaults above, but if you are mid-cycle at your current employer, leaving means forfeiting grants you have already been working toward, and that difference can be larger than the annual take-home delta that drove the comparison in the first place. The Advanced section's "RSU / stock annual value" field is where you plug that number in. Equity-heavy comp favors lower-tax cities at vesting; the after-tax discount gets larger the bigger the grant.
On an employer plan the healthy years feel nearly free; it's the bad year that finds the gap. Toronto is universal, so most of that tail risk goes away. San Francisco still runs $4,220 a year in premiums and out-of-pocket costs, and none of it shows up on an offer letter.
Toronto engineers get 10 vacation days per year. San Francisco averages 0. That 10-day gap is real money at a senior IC's daily rate, and it does not show up on the offer letter.
No kids, employer healthcare, and a single high-bracket income: this is the configuration that makes San Francisco look best in a head-to-head comparison. It is also the configuration most likely to change. The family scenario page (linked below) models what shifts once childcare and a second earner enter the picture.
Who comes out ahead
You keep 48% of gross there versus 41%. Housing drives most of that gap.
You also get universal healthcare and more paid leave on top of the money math in Toronto. Run the family scenario to see it.
Toronto gives you 8 more paid days off in a typical year and 21 more weeks of paid leave, none of which shows on an offer letter.
Common questions
How much do you need to earn in Toronto to match a $225,000 salary in San Francisco?
About CA$268,972. cityparity solves for the Toronto gross salary whose net cash (after taxes, housing, childcare, healthcare, and the rest) equals what you keep in San Francisco. It's an equivalence, not a raw conversion.
Is healthcare free in Toronto?
Toronto has universal public healthcare, so you avoid US-style deductibles and surprise medical bills. But most working professionals still carry private top-up cover, which cityparity models at about CA$1,620 a year and counts in the comparison.
How much vacation and parental leave do you get in Toronto?
Toronto has 19 statutory paid days off a year (vacation plus public holidays) and 50 weeks of parental leave. A public holiday landing on a weekend there is moved to a weekday, so you keep all 19 in a typical year.
Actually looking to move?
The steps this move actually takes, in the order they happen.
Sort the work permit. Your employer usually files this one, and the processing time sets your move date. Everything below waits on it.How permits work
Land the offer. CA$268,972 is your walk-away floor. Our negotiation guide turns it into an anchor, the scripts to hold it, and the trades to make when the base is capped.Get the scripts
Get moving quotes. Once the contract is signed, price the move itself. ReloAdvisor collects quotes for shipping and short-term housing on the Toronto end.Get quotes
Move the money. The deposit on a Toronto flat is usually due before you have a local account. Wise converts USD to CAD at the mid-market rate.Compare rates
Cover the health insurance. Most arrivals hit a gap between leaving one health system and joining the next. Allianz Care quotes interim cover for it.Get a quote
Plan the tax filing. A US passport keeps the IRS in your life in Toronto, on top of whatever Canada wants. Taxes for Expats files the US side for Americans abroad: the exclusion, the foreign tax credit, and the catch-up program if you are already behind.Get a quote
Some links in this list pay cityparity a commission. The order follows the journey, and the comparison above never depends on it. How affiliate links work
Take these numbers into the offer conversation
Get the break-even salary, rent and one-income scenarios, moving budget, and recruiter ask range for San Francisco → Toronto. Change the salary before checkout and every input inside the report.
$49 for one destination 100% money-back guarantee