Cheapest you get a 1BR apartment is maybe $1000-$1200 in Oakland or closer to the valley you can get some deals in East Palo Alto, but you'll probably be held u

Cheapest you get a 1BR apartment is maybe $1000-$1200 in Oakland or closer to the valley you can get some deals in East Palo Alto, but you'll probably be held up at gun point some time in your life (Two friends in North Oakland have been held up at gunpoint) In general though, $1700 for a decent 1BR except in SF, where it's probably closer to $2k. Cheapest homes in East Palo Alto for sale will run $350k. Everywhere else is at least $500k for anything. The government locality pay difference for the GS pay scale in SF is 35% vs. 28% in New York/Newark. I'm sure the city of SF is very comparable to NYC, although you can find some cheaper areas here, but you'll be living further away and commuting, same thing probably goes for NYC (and New Jersey for that matter)