The cost of living in San Francisco is dramatically higher than New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
What surprises me about the Bay Area, though, is how expensive the suburbs are. I remember seeing apartments in downtown Mountain View that were $3000/month for one bedroom. Now that's insane and I don't think that happens anywhere else in the world.
Right, and you can find one bedrooms in the "outer" boroughs for well under that. Perhaps not for much longer, but still.
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1430-S-Michigan-Ave-60605/...
~$250k for a 1BR 3 blocks away from Trader Joes and the subway station and many bars and restaurants and parks. The walk/train/bike scores are all >90, so a car isn't needed even though a parking space is included (you could rent it out!).
San Francisco is expensive.
In general, it's expensive all up and down the peninsula specifically, because there's not all that much land, not much multi-unit housing, etc.
What surprises me about the Bay Area, though, is how expensive the suburbs are. I remember seeing apartments in downtown Mountain View that were $3000/month for one bedroom. Now that's insane and I don't think that happens anywhere else in the world.