Home security system cost in San Francisco: what owners paid (2023 survey)
San Francisco owners paid a median $500 for a home security system: $71 above the U.S. median, tied for second-highest of 14 big metros (Census Bureau, 2023). When owners hired it out, the middle half paid $300 to $1,500.
What San Francisco owners paid
$500
This is historical spending: work done in about 2021 to 2023 on owner-occupied homes, reported in the 2023 survey.
Margin of error ±$50: at 90% confidence the San Francisco median lies between $450 and $550.
Hired out: $700 typical, from 36 hired-out jobs in the survey sample.
How San Francisco compares
- U.S. median, same work
- $429
- Rank, highest first
- Tied at 2 of 14
San Francisco: $500. The big-metro medians run from $334 to $557.
1 of the 15 metros have no published figure for this work, so the rank counts the other 14.
- Houston$557
- Boston$500
- Dallas$500
- Los Angeles$500
- Miami$500
- San Francisco$500
- Seattle$500
- Philadelphia$464
- Riverside$464
- Atlanta$450
- Washington DC$429
- Detroit$400
- Phoenix$400
- Chicago$334
No published figure: New York City.
- Los Angeles$800$350–$1,200
- Seattle$800$400–$1,500
- Washington DC$800$300–$2,600
- Atlanta$740$500–$900
- Houston$740$370–$1,500
- San Francisco$700$300–$1,500
- Riverside$650$350–$1,200
- Dallas$560$300–$930
- Philadelphia$560$330–$840
- Chicago$400$250–$800
A metro is shown when at least 30 hired-out jobs in the survey sample stand behind it.
What it covers
Adding or replacing a home security system: the equipment and its installation.
The Census category is “Security system” within “Interior Additions and Replacements”: what San Francisco-area homeowners told the Census Bureau they paid, every size of job together.
Before you compare quotes
Ask every contractor to price the same scope, in writing. A quote outside the hired-out range above is a reason to ask what it covers, not proof that it is wrong. Are equipment, installation and any ongoing service separately identified?
Then put the quotes in your project budget worksheet to see each one's scope beside its price.