Austin, TX vs Bakersfield, CA
Moving from Austin to Bakersfield? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($428,524 → $364,264 median home) and taxes.
Austin vs Bakersfield 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 Austin, TX, you'd need about $104,185 in Bakersfield, CA (+$4,185).
Livability — Austin, TX: 70 · Bakersfield, CA: 56 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,450 sqft in Austin vs 2,059 sqft in Bakersfield ($204 vs $243 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Austin, TX | Bakersfield, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,620 | $21,456 | +$1,836 |
| 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 | $9,558 | $19,099 | +$9,541 |
| Total | $42,936 | $56,231 | +$13,295 |
Side by side
| Metric | Austin, TX | Bakersfield, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.3 | 102.4 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.30% | 8.39% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 14.8% | 3.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.59 | $5.83 |
| Median home price | $428,524 | $364,264 |
| Home price ÷ income | 4.6× | 5.7× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -6.0% | -0.4% |
| Price per square foot | $204 | $243 |
| Median rent | $1,635 | $1,788 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 8.6% | 13.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.20% | 8.82% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 13.30% |
| Property tax rate | 1.71% | 0.96% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,500 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 27 | 24 |
| 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) | 36.3 | 6.5 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 60% | 80% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 5 |