Amarillo, TX vs San Jose, CA
Moving from Amarillo to San Jose? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($219,904 → $1,610,466 median home) and taxes.
Amarillo vs San Jose 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 Amarillo, TX, you'd need about $123,731 in San Jose, CA (+$23,731).
Livability — Amarillo, TX: 73 · San Jose, CA: 32 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 4,776 sqft in Amarillo vs 466 sqft in San Jose ($105 vs $1074 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Amarillo, TX | San Jose, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $15,516 | $43,500 | +$27,984 |
| Groceries | $4,647 | $5,247 | +$600 |
| Transportation | $3,675 | $5,125 | +$1,450 |
| Utilities | $1,836 | $3,804 | +$1,968 |
| Insurance | $3,600 | $1,500 | −$2,100 |
| Taxes | $5,672 | $25,449 | +$19,777 |
| Total | $34,946 | $84,625 | +$49,679 |
Side by side
| Metric | Amarillo, TX | San Jose, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 91.4 | 113.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.13% | 4.50% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 2.9% | 0.6% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.20 | $6.43 |
| Median home price | $219,904 | $1,610,466 |
| Home price ÷ income | 3.4× | 10.6× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 2.8% | -1.4% |
| Price per square foot | $105 | $1074 |
| Median rent | $1,293 | $3,625 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 8.6% | 13.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.20% | 8.82% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 13.30% |
| Property tax rate | 1.55% | 0.71% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,500 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 20 | 28 |
| Home insurance / yr | $3,600 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,100 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $900 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $950 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 17.0 | 35.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.00 | 4.85 |
| Natural gas / mo | $52 | $72 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $134 | $138 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 430 | 500 |
| Avg summer high °F | 96 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 38 | 45 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 18.0 | 13.5 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 6.7 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 74% | 68% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 5 |