Austin, TX vs Santa Cruz, CA
Moving from Austin to Santa Cruz? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($428,524 → $1,157,157 median home) and taxes.
Austin vs Santa Cruz 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 $114,752 in Santa Cruz, CA (+$14,752).
Livability — Austin, TX: 70 · Santa Cruz, CA: 38 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,450 sqft in Austin vs 648 sqft in Santa Cruz ($204 vs $771 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Austin, TX | Santa Cruz, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,620 | $43,188 | +$23,568 |
| 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 | $22,398 | +$12,840 |
| Total | $42,936 | $81,262 | +$38,326 |
Side by side
| Metric | Austin, TX | Santa Cruz, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.3 | 112.8 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.30% | 5.94% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 14.8% | -1.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.59 | $6.42 |
| Median home price | $428,524 | $1,157,157 |
| Home price ÷ income | 4.6× | 11.1× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -6.0% | 2.9% |
| Price per square foot | $204 | $771 |
| Median rent | $1,635 | $3,599 |
| 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% | 0.63% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,500 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 27 | 27 |
| 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 | 22.9 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 60% | 68% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 5 |