2026 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Fairfax, VA vs Hayward, CA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Hayward or is it cheaper to live in Fairfax?
- Hayward is 37.3% more expensive than Fairfax.

Which city has more affordable housing, Hayward or Fairfax?
- Hayward housing costs are 29.6% more expensive than Fairfax housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Fairfax or is Health Care more affordable in Hayward.
- Health related expenses are 13.7% more in Hayward.
 Fairfax, VAHayward, CAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock195.5100
 Food & Groceries114.1  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock116.8100
 Housing223.8  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$802,800$338,100
 Utilities97  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock123.9100
 Miscellaneous145.6  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Fairfax    28 Reviews

I lived in the area for 17 years through high school until I eventually became a truck driver. Having now seen most states extensively, I wanted to fairly review what  More

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Living in Fairfax, or any of the Northern Virginia suburbs of DC, means dealing with highways that are a Gordian knot of converging lanes and overpasses, making long  More

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Over 11 years ago

The Cost of living here is high. Though the standard of living is also high, unless you're making over 50,000/year, it's difficult to both live and build any sort of  More

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Reviews for Hayward    4 Reviews

I've lived in Hayward for 20 years. Traditionally a working  More

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Hetchy Hechy water is very pure,the summers are about 78f..warm enough. Winters are sunny for the most part and by average.One University and one College in this small  More

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Over 12 years ago

convenient BART and bus if you have no  More

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