2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Santa Fe, NM vs Lake Forest, CA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Lake Forest or is it cheaper to live in Santa Fe?
- Lake Forest is 47.2% more expensive than Santa Fe.

Which city has more affordable housing, Lake Forest or Santa Fe?
- Lake Forest housing costs are 86.2% more expensive than Santa Fe housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Santa Fe or is Health Care more affordable in Lake Forest.
- Health related expenses are 13.6% more in Lake Forest.
 Santa Fe, NMLake Forest, CAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock164.9100
 Food & Groceries101.0  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock93.4100
 Housing161.1  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$937,500$338,100
 Utilities100  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock111.6100
 Miscellaneous107.6  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Santa Fe    55 Reviews

I’ve recently moved to Santa Fe from Colorado. I love Santa Fe for various reasons… mostly because of the tricultural aspects of it. We have amazing Native American,  More

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Over 6 years ago

Bought a house here in 2013 and split my time here with other house in Adirondack Mountains of NYS. Santa Fe is great, but not perfect. Love the climate. 306 days of  More

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Over 6 years ago

The only 2 things about Santa Fe that are nice is the scenery and the weather. But, those two things cannot bring about the total comfort and homeyness that makes a city  More

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Reviews for Lake Forest    16 Reviews

I've lived in Lake Forest for over a decade, before that elsewhere in OC and also up in LA. Lake Forest isn't perfect but it's really improved over the past decade,  More

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As a retired senior who has lived in Lake Forest (formerly El Toro) since 1977 I think LF is a great place if you can afford it. When we moved here in June '77 homes  More

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I’ve lived here for 2 years. Ok, it’s more like a 4 but there are so many idiots downplaying what it’s like here and giving Lake Forest ones and twos. There are a lot of  More

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