Does anyone know how the cost of living ranks nationally or where I could find this info.? Thank you.

I live there. I think it's ranked #2, right after NYC, though I think the Bay Area as a whole ranks #1.

SF has an extremely tight rental/housing market right now, think $600-$1200 for a 1 bdr apartment...
The SF Chronicle has been printing articles on this regularly, you could get more info from them. They have a searchable website sfgate.com.

The worst ever!!!!!!

What do you think we are paying for gas?
Certainly not the 89 cents per gallon that my mom is paying in PA.

When we were there over Spring Break it was over $2 a gallon for gas.

I always like to get real estate magazines to check out prices, and look at classifieds to fuel potential day dreams about moving (Paris, San Francisco, Wilmington NC, anywhere!).
How's $500K for a two bedroom condo sound to you? That's the city by the bay!

I also live in the SF area. San Francisco is very expensive but then so are most large cities. Housing is very expensive in the entire Bay Area. It is actually more expensive in the San Jose area than San Francisco. As one other person said, housing is in short supply. However $600.00 /mo is totally unrealistic unless you live in a very undesireable area. My daughter just moved here a few months ago and works in downtown San Francisco. She rents an apartment in Tiburon ( across Golden Gate in Marin ). Good rentals ran from $1100.00+ in both the city and surrounding areas for a 1BR unfurnished apartment. Buying a house will cost you a minimum of $450,000.00. Other costs are pretty high. Gas of course as others have mentioned. If you choose to live in the city then you do not need a car. San Francisco has excellent public transportation.

Yes, San Francisco is expensive but it is a great place to live. You should never use the cost of living as a factor in deciding where to live unless it is simply impossible to do otherwise. Choose you place of residence based upon where you like and then figure out how to pay for it.

San francisco currently the most expensive place to live in the country and it is inpossible to find housing. A 1 br is now around $1400-1800 a month. Gas is $1.75 a gallon and restaurants are getting more expensive too. i fled 6 months ago and moved to Los Angeles. There is plenty of room for everyone here and the weather is much nicer!

to quote a golf instructor in Minnesota:
"I thought Palm Springs was expensive...till I moved to San Francisco!"

The entire Bay area is so expensive that it's quite common for our grown children to come home to live after college while starting out in the job market. We live mid Peninsula and the cost of living doesn't change from SF down to west San Jose. But, I would never trade it for anywhere else. Lived in LA and wouldn't "flee" from the Bay area to go back. Now, I would like to get my son out of the house! Any suggestions?