Rank #25 of 33

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA

8.8

Tacos per hour at the local median wage

$4.04 Avg taco price

$35.56 Median hourly wage (2024)

$5.00 Fast-casual taqueria

$3.09 Taco Bell crunchy taco

San Francisco sits below the national average. An hour of local work buys 8.8 tacos here, compared with 9.3 tacos per hour across the 33-city index (−0.5 vs national average).

Local note

San Francisco sits at the top of the country for taco prices, with Mission District destination spots like La Taqueria, El Farolito, and Taqueria San Jose now charging $5 or more per taco. The combination of the highest fast-food labor costs in the country and elevated commercial rents pushes both fast-casual and chain prices above every other city in the index.

Where the numbers come from

Fast-casual: La Taqueria (Michelin-listed), El Farolito, Taqueria San Jose, Taqueria Guadalajara — brick-and-mortar Mission taquerias typically run $4.50–$6 per taco in 2025–26. Chain: Taco Bell crunchy taco $3.09 (verified via Uber Eats; 691 Eddy St Tenderloin store lists $3.59, implying ~$3.09 in-store after standard markup; CA FAST Act + SF rents).

Average taco price ($4.04) is $1.27 above the national average of $2.77.

How this is calculated. Tacos per hour = median hourly wage ÷ average taco price. Average taco price is the mean of the fast-casual taqueria anchor and the local Taco Bell crunchy taco price. Wages come from BLS OEWS, May 2024, MSA-level median for all occupations. Full methodology.