What is the cost of living in Santa Rosa-Petaluma?

Santa Rosa-Petaluma has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) of 107.8, where 100 represents the national average. Housing costs index at 139.6, which is above the national average. The average 2-bedroom rent is $2,827/month.

What is the median salary in Santa Rosa-Petaluma?

The median salary in Santa Rosa-Petaluma is $80,131 annually (mean: $84,026). Top occupations include Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Retail Salespersons, Cashiers.

How safe is Santa Rosa-Petaluma?

The violent crime rate in the Santa Rosa-Petaluma area is 477 per 100,000 population (state-level data). Property crime rate is 1986 per 100K.

What are the schools like in Santa Rosa-Petaluma?

The state of CA has 10,006 schools (state-level data, no metro-level federal count exists) with an average student-teacher ratio of 21.5:1. Charter schools make up 12.8% of all schools.

How much does childcare cost in Santa Rosa-Petaluma?

Infant center-based childcare in the Santa Rosa-Petaluma area averages $17,920 per year. Preschool averages $11,385/year. These are state-level averages.

Is Santa Rosa-Petaluma a good place to relocate?

Santa Rosa-Petaluma has a Life Score of 39.4/100 (F), based on 7 of 7 available dimensions among cost of living, wages, rent, crime, schools, childcare, and environment (missing dims omitted, weights renormalized). This places Santa Rosa-Petaluma in the bottom decile of scored metros; compare individual dimensions to see where the biggest gaps are.

Where does Santa Rosa-Petaluma sit among US metros on LiveAbility?

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite, Santa Rosa-Petaluma ranks #358 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). That ordinal matches the /rankings/livability listing. See /methodology#corpus-placement for the exact sort basis.

Relocation profile · Federal data

Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA

BEA RPP 107.8 ranks #368 of 387 scored metros for higher prices (dearer third).

Compiled by PlainRelocate · June 15, 2026

107.8
Cost index (US=100): $2,827
2BR rent / mo: $80,131
Median salary: 34.7
LiveAbility Score

The verdict

As of June 2026, Santa Rosa-Petaluma ranks #358 of 387 US metros on the LiveAbility Score (34.7/100), with its strongest marks in air quality and job market.

#358
of 387 US metros · Below median: 39,431,263
metro-area population: 477
violent crimes per 100K (state-level): 10,006
schools in the state (NCES)

Weakest dimension: housing (2/100). Weigh every dimension against your own priorities, use the City Finder to re-rank by what matters to you.

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite (BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, EPA, NOAA, and FEMA inputs), Santa Rosa-Petaluma ranks #358 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). Cost-of-living index 107.8 (100 = national average), median 2-bedroom rent $2,827/mo, median salary $80,131; LiveAbility Score 34.7/100, strongest in air quality and job market.

Signature: BEA RPP 107.8 ranks #368 of 387 scored metros for higher prices (dearer third).

Purchasing power tightens: BEA RPP 107.8 lands in the dearer third of scored metros (cuts at 91.5 / 97.0). Median 2BR rent $2,827/mo.

LiveAbility 34.7/100 puts Santa Rosa-Petaluma in the bottom third (#358 of 387).

BLS OEWS total employment in the Santa Rosa-Petaluma area is 195,580.

Santa Rosa-Petaluma vs all US metros by LiveAbility Score

Where this metro's LiveAbility Score falls among every scored US metro (composite placement, not a desirability verdict)

35 Top 93% higher than 7% of 387 US metros

Metros banded by LiveAbility Score (0–100)

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainRelocate LiveAbility Score · June 2026

Santa Rosa-Petaluma housing and rent

HUD Fair Market Rents for the Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA; housing RPP 139.6 (100 = national average); 2BR $2,827/mo.

Studio

$1,949

/month

1 Bedroom

$2,155

/month

2 Bedroom

$2,827

/month

3 Bedroom

$3,887

/month

4 Bedroom

$4,147

/month

Santa Rosa-Petaluma wages and employment

Santa Rosa-Petaluma posts 195,580 total employment with median salary $80,131 against a dearer-than-average RPP.

Median Salary

$80,131

Mean Salary

$84,026

Total Employment

195,580

Top Occupations by Employment

Occupation	Median Salary
Home Health and Personal Care Aides	$36,850
Retail Salespersons	$39,570
Cashiers	$38,440
Fast Food and Counter Workers	$43,610
General and Operations Managers	$109,970

Schools & Education

State-level education data for the Santa Rosa-Petaluma area from NCES.

Schools

10,006

Enrollment

5,787,663

Student:Teacher

21.5:1

Title I %

Childcare Costs

State-average childcare costs for the Santa Rosa-Petaluma area (DOL data).

Infant (Center)

$17,920

per year

Toddler (Center)

$12,300

per year

Preschool (Center)

$11,385

per year

Life Score Breakdown

Santa Rosa-Petaluma's composite Life Score is 39.4/100 (F), computed across 7 of 7 dimensions.

Cost

5/100

Bottom decile

Wages

95/100

Elite

Rent

2/100

Bottom decile

Crime

8/100

Bottom decile

Schools

97/100

Elite

Childcare

3/100

Bottom decile

Environment

79/100

Strong

LiveAbility Score

View full rankings →

Santa Rosa-Petaluma ranks #358 out of 387 metros with a LiveAbility Score of 34.7/100 - a composite of 8 of 8 quality-of-life dimensions from federal data. Customize the weights to match your priorities →

Strongest dimension: Air quality (99/100)

Air quality

99
Job market

95
Climate

91
Safety

8
Low hazard

8
Cost of living

5
Schools

3
Housing

2

What this shows Santa Rosa-Petaluma's strongest dimensions are air quality and job market; its weakest among scored dims is housing at 2/100. Default weights: cost 18%, jobs & housing 15% each, safety & schools 12%, air & hazard 10%, climate 8%.

Compare Santa Rosa-Petaluma to

Sioux City Sioux Falls Slidell-Mandeville-Covington South Bend-Mishawaka Spartanburg Spokane-Spokane Valley

Metros near Santa Rosa-Petaluma on cost, LiveAbility, or wages

Nearest out-of-state neighbors to Santa Rosa-Petaluma on BEA RPP, LiveAbility, or BLS median salary, a different lens than the size-ranked list.

Similar cost of living (BEA RPP)

Similar LiveAbility score

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026

Santa Rosa-Petaluma cost figures follow BEA Regional Price Parities and HUD Fair Market Rents; Santa Rosa-Petaluma wages and LiveAbility inputs follow BLS OEWS plus the federal sources listed in methodology. This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Scores are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation. How this data is sourced.

Verify with BEA → · Verify with BLS → · Verify with HUD → · Verify with NOAA → · Verify with FEMA → · Verify with Census →

Thinking about Santa Rosa-Petaluma?

Santa Rosa-Petaluma runs a $80,131 median salary at a 107.8 cost index, ranking #358 of 387 nationally on LiveAbility.

See exactly what Santa Rosa-Petaluma's pay and cost figures mean for your own budget. Salary calculator
Put Santa Rosa-Petaluma head-to-head against another city on the same dimensions. Compare Santa Rosa-Petaluma
Abilene is the closest related metro in this corpus -- see how it stacks up. Abilene profile
A cheaper cost index and a higher LiveAbility score don't always point the same direction -- here's how to weigh the trade-off. Cost vs quality guide

Cost, salary and score figures are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation.