S.F. area ranked priciest for 2020
Metro region’s costs were 17.4% above nation’s
The San Francisco metro area was the nation’s most expensive place to live in 2020 for the sixth year in a row, and California was the third-most expensive state, according to federal data released Tuesday.
Prices in the San FranciscoOakland-Berkeley metropolitan statistical area were 17.4% higher than the national average, with apartment rents 107.4% higher, though rental data incorporated the year 2019 instead of 2020 because the pandemic disrupted housing data surveys. The New YorkNewark-Jersey City region was second at 15.5% more expensive than the national average, followed by Honolulu at 13.8% higher and the San Diego area at 13.4% above the average. The regional price rankings weigh rental housing, goods, utilities and other expenses against the national average.
The Bay Area’s high costs have soared even further this year amid global inflation and supply chain gridlock. Gas prices have leaped above $5 a gallon and housing costs have rebounded as renters have returned to the region, a daunting challenge for both consumers and President Biden’s administration.
California dominated the list of most expensive U.S. regions last year with 12 of the top 20 in the country, including seven in Northern California. California’s 2019 housing costs were 60.2% higher than the national average, the highest of any state. The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA was fifth most expensive, with 2019 rent costs 130.6% higher than the national average, the most of any region. Los Angeles was seventh overall, Napa was 10th, Salinas was 12th, Santa Rosa-Petaluma was 16th, Santa Cruz-Watsonville was 18th and Vallejo was 20th.
The Sacramento area, where many Bay Area residents have
flocked for relatively cheaper living costs, was 24th.
Data is based on a five-year rolling average of the Consumer Price Index and American Community Survey data from the Census Bureau. However, the 2020 American Community Survey was disrupted by the pandemic and results were delayed, so 2019 housing and utilities data was used, said Eric Figueroa, chief of regional prices branch at the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Thus, the report doesn't reflect the plunging rents across many cities including San Francisco during the pandemic. It may be updated next year after the agency analyzes data released last month, he said.
The data shows that cost of living has major effects on the actual wealth of residents in the most expensive cities. For example, the report finds that San Francisco's $111,000 income per person is actually worth closer to $97,000 per person when adjusting for how much housing and goods cost.
Hawaii was the most expensive state with 12% higher prices than the national average, followed
by New Jersey at 11.2% higher and California at 10.4%. Mississippi, West Virginia and Arkansas were the least expensive states. Florence-Muscle Shoals, Ala. was the least expensive region.
In 2020, consumer spending fell in 47 of 50 states, as measured by real personal consumption expenditures, as government lockdowns closed many businesses. The federal Bureau of Economic Analysis said that it was unclear how much the pandemic affected the statistics.
Real personal income, which accounts for cost of living, rose
5.3% nationally in 2020 and in all 50 states amid trillions of dollars in federal aid, including unemployment insurance expansions, with real personal income in California rising 7%. A booming stock market and tech companies going public in lucrative offerings in the past two years contributed to California's lofty $75.7 billion budget surplus.