
4. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California
This is also known as the San Francisco Metropolitan area and is the 11th most populated area in America. Once the GDP of 2015 was adjusted for inflation, it was ranked as the 4th highest metropolitan in the United States.

San Francisco is actually called The City and County of San Francisco and is a hub in terms of commerce, culture, and finance in the region that is Northern California. Nationally, it is the 13th most populated city and comes in number 4 when looking at the state of California. As of 2016, the population was estimated to be 870,887. Tourism, finance, and technology make up the bulk of the economy in San Francisco.

Alameda county houses the city of Oakland, which is the most populated in said county. This port city on the West Coast is also the 8th most populated city in the state of California. At least 99% of the goods that are heading into California via shipping containers, enter the state via the port here. The 3rd largest city in Alameda county is Hayward. The population of this city amounted to 149,392 in 2014. Prior to the 1980s, the economy in Hayward was mostly based on its salt production and canning industry. Presently, the economy is dominated by retail and manufacturing.

A six-figure household in this metropolitan area would have $6,291 in terms of income each month, this value is post taxation. Monthly household expenses amount to $6,023. These values show that a household here would spend 96% of their income on basic monthly expenses. San Francisco scores 272.60 on the cost of living scale, Oakland has 179.30, and Hayward 169.20. All of these are substantially higher than the national average of 100.