Typical low · P25$3,500
Median$7,000
Typical high · P75$18,730
✓ Verified from 48 recent building-permit filings in San Francisco, CA
Data refreshed August 2026
Computed from 48 recent building-permit filings in San Francisco, CA — what people actually declared, not survey guesses.
✓ Verified from 48 recent building-permit filings in San Francisco, CA
Data refreshed August 2026
The short answer: a typical water heater replacement in San Francisco costs around $7,000, with half of all projects landing between $3,500 and $18,730. If a quote falls well outside that range, it isn't automatically wrong — but it deserves an explanation you can understand.
Every figure on this page is computed from declared valuations on building permits published by San Francisco's open-data portal. We report the 25th percentile, median and 75th percentile of 48 recent residential filings — never a single-point "average". Declared values are what applicants file, not final invoices, so treat the range as planning guidance rather than a quote. Full methodology →
Based on 48 recent building-permit filings in San Francisco, the median declared cost is $7,000. Half of all projects fall between $3,500 and $18,730.
No. Permit valuations are what applicants declare when filing, not final invoices. Treat the range as planning guidance and a sanity-check against the quotes you receive.
Because identical-sounding projects legitimately differ in size, specification and site conditions. That is why we publish the 25th percentile, median and 75th percentile instead of a single misleading "average" — you can see where a quote sits in the real distribution.
Planning something else, or somewhere else? Request a city or project — requests decide what we ingest next.