Albuquerque, NM vs San Francisco, CA
Moving from Albuquerque to San Francisco? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($352,894 → $1,149,215 median home) and taxes.
Albuquerque vs San Francisco at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Albuquerque, NM, you'd need about $125,552 in San Francisco, CA (+$25,552).
Livability — Albuquerque, NM: 60 · San Francisco, CA: 35 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,621 sqft in Albuquerque vs 653 sqft in San Francisco ($191 vs $766 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Albuquerque, NM | San Francisco, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $18,024 | $39,096 | +$21,072 |
| Groceries | $4,871 | $5,761 | +$890 |
| Transportation | $3,260 | $5,125 | +$1,865 |
| Utilities | $1,632 | $3,804 | +$2,172 |
| Insurance | $1,900 | $1,500 | −$400 |
| Taxes | $10,881 | $24,108 | +$13,227 |
| Total | $40,568 | $79,394 | +$38,826 |
Side by side
| Metric | Albuquerque, NM | San Francisco, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 93.6 | 117.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.69% | 5.22% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 1.2% | 1.1% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.33 | $6.69 |
| Median home price | $352,894 | $1,149,215 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.5× | 8.9× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.0% | -0.8% |
| Price per square foot | $191 | $766 |
| Median rent | $1,502 | $3,258 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.2% | 13.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.78% | 8.82% |
| Capital gains tax | 5.90% | 13.30% |
| Property tax rate | 0.93% | 0.72% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,400 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 24 | 33 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,900 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,600 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $550 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $950 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 15.2 | 35.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.20 | 4.85 |
| Natural gas / mo | $50 | $72 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $58 | $138 |
| Home internet / mo | $74 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 780 | 500 |
| Avg summer high °F | 92 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 25 | 45 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 9.4 | 22.9 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 10.0 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 71% | 66% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 5 |