At a glance
Start with the numbers, not the dream. This guide compares San Francisco and Singapore using the dated starting figures below, then lets you replace every figure with your own.
S$2,800 to S$4,500 one-bedroom condo guide range, about $2,184 to $3,510 at $0.78
$3,915 median to $4,892 asking median
Progressive resident rates: first S$20,000 at 0%, then 2% to S$30,000, 3.5% to S$40,000, 7% to S$80,000, 11.5% to S$120,000, 15% to S$160,000, 18% to S$200,000, 19% to S$240,000, 19.5% to S$280,000, 20% to S$320,000, 22% to S$500,000, 23% to S$1,000,000, and...
S$1 = $0.78 (rounded, 24 October 2026)
These indicators are taken from the detailed table further down this page. They are ranges and averages, not a quote for your flat, your job, or your tax bill. This is not tax, legal, or immigration advice.
Figures are estimates, not quotes. This is not tax, legal, or immigration advice.
Try it: match your life, not just your salary
Singapore rent is entered in Singapore dollars and converted at the editable exchange rate, so you can see the conversion instead of guessing it. Other Singapore costs are an example only, replace them with your own.
Quick estimate first: start with salary, tax, rent, and exchange rate. Open Refine to adjust other living costs.
Refine: show more inputs
Formula, in plain words: take-home needed in Singapore equals Singapore monthly costs in dollars plus your current monthly cushion, divided by one minus your Singapore tax rate. This is illustrative maths, not a tax calculation. Singapore bands above are the check, not a substitute for a personal calculation.
Worked example, checked: $150,000 salary, 30% tax now, $3,915 rent now, $2,800 other costs now, S$3,800 rent in Singapore, S$2,200 other costs in Singapore, S$1 = $0.78, 12% tax in Singapore. Take-home now $8,750 per month, left after costs now $2,035 per month, Singapore rent $2,964 per month, total Singapore costs $4,680 per month, equivalent gross salary about $91,568 per year in dollar terms, savings difference $2,035 per month. Other Singapore costs are an editable example only, not a sourced figure.
Your result
Estimated income required to preserve your current monthly spending cushion in Singapore, in dollar terms
Scenario based on your entered tax rates, rent, other costs, and exchange rate. It is not a local market salary, not a job offer, and not guaranteed affordability. It does not account for work permission, US tax filing obligations, employer benefits, retirement contributions, healthcare gaps, or exchange-rate exposure.
Monthly expense difference is San Francisco monthly costs minus Singapore monthly costs in dollars. Positive means Singapore costs less on these inputs. It is not actual savings, because tax, healthcare, transport, and lifestyle are only partly in these fields.
Saved comparisons stay in this browser only, on this device. No account, no email, no data sent anywhere.
The sourced starting points
Use these as a starting range, not as a single true price. Rent methods differ, and that difference matters more than any single average.
| Item | San Francisco | Singapore | Source and caveat |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-bedroom rent, per month | $3,915 median to $4,892 asking median | S$2,800 to S$4,500 one-bedroom condo guide range, about $2,184 to $3,510 at $0.78 | San Francisco: Apartment List October 2026 Rent Index, one-bedroom median $3,915, September 2026 estimates; PiggyRent October 2026, one-bedroom asking median $4,892 from listings collected 3 to 4 October 2026; PadMapper October 2026, one-bedroom median $4,495 as of 18 October 2026. Singapore: market guide summary placing one-bedroom condo rents at about S$2,800 to S$4,500; a separate District 15 pulse put the September 2026 one-bedroom median at $3,200 from URA rental lodgements. Asking rents, guide ranges, and completed-transaction medians are not the same thing, so do not treat any one figure as the Singapore price. |
| Singapore income tax, residents, Year of Assessment 2026 | Progressive resident rates: first S$20,000 at 0%, then 2% to S$30,000, 3.5% to S$40,000, 7% to S$80,000, 11.5% to S$120,000, 15% to S$160,000, 18% to S$200,000, 19% to S$240,000, 19.5% to S$280,000, 20% to S$320,000, 22% to S$500,000, 23% to S$1,000,000, and 24% above S$1,000,000. Non-resident employment income is taxed at a flat 15% or the resident rates, whichever is higher, with no personal reliefs. | Rates as published on the official Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) page linked below, rechecked 25 October 2026. Reliefs, residency status, and US tax filing can change the result a lot. Enter your own effective tax rate in the calculator. Get a personal calculation before you rely on any tax figure. | |
| US tax, San Francisco | No single rate is used here. Federal tax plus California tax all apply, and your effective rate depends on income, filing status, and deductions. | Enter your own effective tax rate in the calculator. Do not use a headline marginal rate as if it were your total tax. | |
| Healthcare, in one line | Mainly employer or private insurance in the US, with premiums, deductibles, and copays on top of tax. | Singapore citizens and permanent residents use MediSave and MediShield Life subsidies, while work-pass holders generally pay unsubsidised rates and need employer or private cover. | This is a system difference, not a price. Budget for private cover in Singapore, and for US-style out-of-pocket costs if you keep US cover. |
Why the San Francisco range is so wide: an Apartment List estimate blends a modelled rent series, while a PiggyRent or PadMapper asking median measures only flats currently listed for rent. Pick the method that matches your search, then replace the range with listings you have actually seen.
Singapore housing note: most expats rent private condos. Whole HDB flats have eligibility rules and are not the usual expat route, so HDB medians are not used as the headline Singapore rent here.
Official links to check, not search results
Use these official links directly, not a search ad or a copycat site for tax or work-pass questions. Check their current pages before you rely on any figure on this page.
- IRAS: Individual Income Tax rates - official Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore page, rechecked 25 October 2026, with resident rates from Year of Assessment 2024 onwards and the non-resident employment rule at 15% or resident rates, whichever is higher.
- Ministry of Manpower: Key facts on Employment Pass - official page, rechecked 25 October 2026, for foreign professionals, managers and executives with a job offer, with qualifying salary and duration facts.
- Immigration and Checkpoints Authority: Entering Singapore - official page, rechecked 25 October 2026, covering travel documents, visa, and the SG Arrival Card.
If a site charges a fee to show you a tax table, or its address is not the official government domain for that service, treat it as a copycat and go back to the official source.
What this page still does not do
- Family size: one-bedroom rent and a single-person budget do not scale cleanly to a family. A family version needs bedroom count, schooling, and childcare as separate fields.
- Housing ownership: buying, mortgage, and property tax are not in this calculator. Renters only, for now.
- Pension and remote income: salary mode only in this page. Pension mode and remote-income mode are not yet built.
- Visa and residence: a short visit is not a move. There is no exact matching Singapore visa page in the current guides, so this page links back to the homepage instead of inventing a Singapore visa page. Get immigration advice for work or residence permission.
Sources, checked 24 October 2026
- Apartment List October 2026 Rent Index: San Francisco one-bedroom median $3,915, overall median $3,878, September 2026 estimates.
- PiggyRent San Francisco Bay rent report, October 2026, listings collected 3 to 4 October 2026: one-bedroom asking median $4,892.
- PadMapper San Francisco rent trends, October 2026, median as of 18 October 2026: one-bedroom $4,495.
- Singapore one-bedroom condo guide range about S$2,800 to S$4,500, from a market guide summary checked 24 October 2026; District 15 pulse, September 2026, one-bedroom median $3,200 from URA rental lodgements, as a second, method-different check.
- IRAS resident rates for Year of Assessment 2026, official IRAS page linked above and rechecked 25 October 2026: 0% on the first S$20,000 to 24% above S$1,000,000, as tabled above; non-resident employment income at 15% flat or resident rates, whichever is higher.
- Exchange rate: S$1 = $0.7831 on 24 October 2026, from market summaries checked that day. Rounded to $0.78 in this page, editable in the calculator.
- Healthcare: Singapore MediSave and MediShield Life are for citizens and permanent residents, work-pass holders generally pay unsubsidised rates and need private or employer cover, from healthcare guides checked 24 October 2026.
If any figure above has moved since 24 October 2026, the page is out of date until it is rechecked. That is the point of the last-checked stamp.