Pocatello composite
67.9 /100
Grade A+ · weighted across 7 dims
Metro comparison
Pocatello vs San Francisco
Pocatello, ID and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA side by side, cost of living, rent, wages, crime, schools, childcare and environment, all from the same federal datasets so every number is directly comparable.
- 67.9
- Pocatello Life Score
- A+
- Pocatello grade
- 39.6
- San Francisco Life Score
- D
- San Francisco grade
Head-to-head verdict
Across the seven dimensions, Pocatello scores higher on 5 (cost of living, rent, safety, childcare, environment) and San Francisco on 2 (wages, schools). The radar shows the full shape; the tables below break out every figure.
Where each metro wins, and by how much
Every dimension is a national percentile (0–100). Each bar leans toward the stronger metro, a long lean is a decisive edge, a near-even split is a toss-up. The radar shows the overall shape; this shows the per-dimension margins.
◖ Pocatello San Francisco ◗
cost of living
81
0
wages
21
100
rent
69
1
safety
82
10
schools
70
98
childcare
87
5
environment
91
78
Pocatello and San Francisco differ across eleven dimensions of livability. Pocatello has a cost-of-living index of 88.9 vs San Francisco's 115.6 (national average = 100). Median salaries are $59,267 in Pocatello and $95,708 in San Francisco. A 2-bedroom averages $1,173/mo vs $2,912/mo.
Beyond the headline numbers
Reading the Pocatello vs San Francisco Comparison
The cost gap above compounds fastest through housing: the difference in HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent between Pocatello and San Francisco works out to $20,868 over a year, the largest single line item behind the headline spread.
Adjusted for cost of living rather than compared as nominal dollars, $100,000 earned in Pocatello carries the same local purchasing power as $130,040 in San Francisco - the more honest read than the salary headline above, because nominal wages and rents move together in tight metros. State-level violent crime, the most reliable geographic tier FBI UCR publishes, is 234.7 per 100,000 residents in ID vs 476.8 in CA, with property-crime rates of 754.4 and 1985.9 respectively.
Schools are reported at the state tier by NCES: ID lists 778 public schools at a 16.7:1 student-teacher ratio, while CA lists 10,006 schools at 20.8:1, a signal of class-size staffing, though individual district and school-level variation within each state is substantial. Department of Labor center-based infant care runs $7,315/yr in the Pocatello area versus $17,920/yr in San Francisco - a line item that shifts the real cost-of-living picture for households with children under five far more than headline RPP does. When these pieces are read together rather than in isolation, Pocatello and San Francisco are not simply "cheaper" or "more expensive" - they trade across dimensions, and which metro wins depends on whether your household optimizes for rent, wages, schools, childcare, safety, or environment. Treat the tables below as inputs to that trade-off, not as a single ranking.
San Francisco composite
39.6 /100
Grade D · weighted across 7 dims
Environment score gap
13 pts
Pocatello cleaner, national percentile
Safety score gap
72 pts
Pocatello safer, national percentile
Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale
Pocatello
Pocatello composite (Grade A+)
San Francisco
San Francisco composite (Grade D)
Composite is a weighted roll-up of seven dimensions: cost (20%), wages (20%), rent (15%), safety (15%), schools (10%), childcare (10%), environment (10%). Each input normalized to a 0–100 percentile across all metros.
💰 Cost of Living BEA →
| Category | Pocatello | San Francisco |
|---|---|---|
| Overall RPP | 88.9 | 115.6 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 108.5 |
| Services | 69.8 | 172.6 |
| Rents | 66.4 | 194.7 |
Salary Equivalent Calculator
What salary in San Francisco gives the same purchasing power as your salary in Pocatello?
$
Equivalent in San Francisco:
$130,040
Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (Pocatello: 88.9, San Francisco: 115.6, national avg = 100).
🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) HUD →
| Bedrooms | Pocatello | San Francisco |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $809/mo | $2,142/mo |
| 1 Bedroom | $894/mo | $2,385/mo |
| 2 Bedroom | $1,173/mo | $2,912/mo |
| 3 Bedroom | $1,631/mo | $3,724/mo |
| 4 Bedroom | $1,968/mo | $4,413/mo |
💼 Wages & Employment BLS →
| Metric | Pocatello | San Francisco |
|---|---|---|
| Avg Median Salary | $59,267 | $95,708 |
| Total Employment | 29,080 | 2,339,300 |
🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) FBI →
| Crime Type (per 100K) | Pocatello (ID) | San Francisco (CA) |
|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime | 234.7 | 476.8 |
| Property Crime | 754.4 | 1985.9 |
🎓 Schools (state-level) NCES →
| Metric | ID | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Total Schools | 778 | 10,006 |
| Student-Teacher Ratio | 16.7:1 | 20.8:1 |
| Charter Schools | 9.9% | 12.8% |
👶 Childcare Costs (Annual Avg) (state-level) DOL →
| Age Group | ID | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Infant (Center) | $7,315/yr | $17,920/yr |
| Toddler (Center) | $7,002/yr | $12,300/yr |
| Preschool (Center) | $6,437/yr | $11,385/yr |
🌿 Environment (state-level) EPA →
| Metric | ID | CA |
|---|---|---|
| EPA Facilities | 135 | 1,426 |
| Water Systems | 773 | 3,068 |
| Superfund Sites | 12 | 116 |
| Water Violations | 2,331 | 17,705 |
Government-verified data - Air quality (EPA AQS), water safety (EPA SDWIS), healthcare access (HRSA), and disaster risk (FEMA NRI) are sourced directly from U.S. federal agencies. No crowdsourced estimates.
💨 Air Quality (EPA AQS) EPA AQS →
| Metric | Pocatello | San Francisco |
|---|---|---|
| Median AQI | 36.0 | 21.0 |
| Good Air Days | 88.8% | 91.6% |
| Unhealthy Air Days | 1 days | 0 days |
💧 Water Safety (EPA SDWIS, state-level) EPA SDWIS →
| Metric | ID | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Water Safety Score | 5/100 | 14/100 |
| Total Violations | 104,850 | 153,308 |
| Health-Based Violations | 19,965 | 63,983 |
| Systems with Violations | 96.1% | 89.2% |
🏥 Healthcare Access (HRSA, state-level) HRSA →
| Metric | ID | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Access Score | 34/100 | 41/100 |
| Population in Shortage Area | 65.8% | 58.6% |
| HPSA Designations | 253 | 1,623 |
HPSA = Health Professional Shortage Area, designated by HRSA. Higher access score = better healthcare availability.
⚠️ Natural Disaster Risk (FEMA NRI, state-level) FEMA NRI →
| Metric | ID | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Disaster Safety Score | 78/100 | 12/100 |
| NRI Risk Score (avg county) | 38.5 | 88.7 |
| Expected Annual Loss Score | 41.3 | 87.9 |
FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) scores are county-level percentiles (0–100). Higher disaster safety score = lower relative risk. State-level values are county averages.
Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level. Metro-specific data for these dimensions is not available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Pocatello more expensive than San Francisco? ▼
Pocatello has a cost of living index of 88.9 compared to San Francisco's 115.6 (national average = 100). San Francisco is 26.7 points above Pocatello on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between Pocatello and San Francisco? ▼
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $1,173/mo in Pocatello vs $2,912/mo in San Francisco, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $809/mo to $2,142/mo.
How do salaries compare between Pocatello and San Francisco? ▼
The average median salary across all occupations is $59,267 in Pocatello and $95,708 in San Francisco, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. After adjusting for cost of living, $100,000 in Pocatello has the same purchasing power as $130,040 in San Francisco.
Is Pocatello or San Francisco safer? ▼
At the state level, ID has a violent crime rate of 234.7 per 100,000 residents compared to CA's 476.8 per 100,000. Property crime rates are 754.4 vs 1985.9 per 100,000 respectively, based on FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
How do schools compare between Pocatello and San Francisco? ▼
ID has 778 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 16.7:1, while CA has 10,006 schools at 20.8:1. Charter schools make up 9.9% of ID schools vs 12.8% in CA. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Where does the comparison data come from? ▼
All data comes from official U.S. government sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis (cost of living), HUD (fair market rents), BLS (wages), FBI UCR (crime), NCES (schools), Department of Labor (childcare), EPA (environment, air quality, water safety), HRSA (healthcare access), and FEMA NRI (disaster risk). No crowdsourced estimates or proprietary ratings are used.
Research Guides
Explore more
Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, EPA AQS, EPA SDWIS, HRSA, and FEMA NRI. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.
Disclaimer: This comparison is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or relocation advice. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.
Related
Data sourced from official public datasets, current as of 2026. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare