Think the grass is greener?

Sure, you could probably make more money in a larger city. But how does the cost of living compare to Chico’s, even with our rising house prices? Web sites with wage-calculator tools such as www.mysalary.com lay it all out for you. We plugged in a salary of $34,000 a year, not that far from the Chico-Paradise Metropolitan area’s mean salary of $34,782.

City cost of living salary needed* employers pay so you’d earn net loss

Bakersfield +13.2% $38,499 +4.2% $35,415 -$3,083

Fresno +4.4% $35,497 +2.1% $34,707 -$790

Los Angeles +42.3 $48,365 +11.9% $38,043 -$10,321

Monterey +19% $40,473 +7.4% $36,527 -$3,946

Oakland +43.8 $48,892 +14.9% $39,054 -$9,837

Sacramento +14.3% $38,855 +7.6% $36,594 -$2,261

San Diego +46.8% $49,914 +5.3% $35,785 -$14,128

San Francisco +90.7% $64,836 +16.9% $39,792 -$25,074

San Jose +58.3% $53,814 +16.7% $39,694 -$14,119

Ventura +28.2% $43,591 +8% $36,729 -$6,861

* to maintain current standard of living