cityparity

$150,000 in San Francisco ≈ CA$131,333 in Toronto

San Francisco vs Toronto: cost of living, compared

Equivalence is solved so household net cash matches across both cities, with taxes, housing, childcare, healthcare, food, and travel all included.

What changes: San Francisco → Toronto

  • 16 more paid parental-leave weeks (28 vs 12)
  • Universal healthcare in Toronto (no premium / minimal OOP)
  • Income + payroll tax runs 24.4% in Toronto vs 26.9% in San Francisco
  • Housing runs about 52% less in Toronto
  • Groceries and dining runs about 40% less in Toronto

The headline math

San Francisco household gross $150,000
San Francisco taxes (26.9%) −$40,287
San Francisco living costs −$81,137
San Francisco net cash $28,576
Toronto household gross needed CA$131,333($92,488)
Toronto taxes (24.4%) −CA$32,078
Toronto living costs −CA$58,676
Toronto net cash CA$40,579

Computed at the city-median tech-worker salary, San Francisco (typical professional) · effective tax rates: 26.9% vs 24.4%

The bottom line

These numbers use one scenario's assumptions. Plug in your own salary, family size, and lifestyle.

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Moving from San Francisco to Toronto

$150,000 in San Francisco is worth CA$131,333 in Toronto on a household net-cash basis. That is the equivalence figure this tool solves for: the Toronto gross salary whose take-home, after taxes and local costs, lands in the same place as your San Francisco take-home. Most people are surprised by how large the number is. Most of the gap is taxes.

Taxes are actually lower in Toronto (24.4%) than in San Francisco (26.9%). That's unusual for a country with a high-tax reputation, and worth checking the bracket structure directly.

Healthcare in Toronto is universal. San Francisco households pay $3,941 in premiums and out-of-pocket costs per year, and that spending disappears in Toronto. It won't show up in a take-home comparison, but it's real money.

Vacation entitlement is similar: 15 days in San Francisco, 15 in Toronto.

Living costs (housing, food, transit, discretionary) total $76,896 in San Francisco and CA$56,656 in Toronto at these scenario defaults. The breakdown table shows each line item separately, with source citations and last-updated dates available on hover.

Understand what's behind these numbers

Common questions

How much do you need to earn in Toronto to match a $150,000 salary in San Francisco?

About CA$131,333. 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 healthcare, so there are no US-style premiums or large deductibles. cityparity counts that as real money you don't spend, which is part of why the equivalent salary is lower than the raw number suggests.

How much vacation and parental leave do you get in Toronto?

Toronto has about 24 paid days off a year (vacation plus public holidays) and 50 weeks of parental leave. cityparity surfaces these as deltas rather than dollars, because time off is part of the real comparison.

Run your own numbers in the interactive calculator →

Related comparisons

Every figure here comes from the same engine as the interactive calculator: real progressive tax brackets, city-median costs, childcare net of government allowances, and the social safety net priced in. Sources are cited per row in the calculator, refreshed annually. Read the full methodology →