Austin, TX vs Urban Honolulu, HI
Moving from Austin to Urban Honolulu? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($428,524 → $851,163 median home) and taxes.
Austin vs Urban Honolulu 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 $113,379 in Urban Honolulu, HI (+$13,379).
Livability — Austin, TX: 70 · Urban Honolulu, HI: 48 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,450 sqft in Austin vs 881 sqft in Urban Honolulu ($204 vs $567 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Austin, TX | Urban Honolulu, HI | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,620 | $35,760 | +$16,140 |
| Groceries | $4,647 | $5,517 | +$871 |
| Transportation | $3,675 | $3,900 | +$225 |
| Utilities | $1,836 | $5,040 | +$3,204 |
| Insurance | $3,600 | $1,100 | −$2,500 |
| Taxes | $9,558 | $14,943 | +$5,385 |
| Total | $42,936 | $66,260 | +$23,325 |
Side by side
| Metric | Austin, TX | Urban Honolulu, HI |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.3 | 111.4 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.30% | 4.79% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 14.8% | 2.0% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.59 | $6.34 |
| Median home price | $428,524 | $851,163 |
| Home price ÷ income | 4.6× | 8.5× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -6.0% | 0.6% |
| Price per square foot | $204 | $567 |
| Median rent | $1,635 | $2,980 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 8.6% | 14.1% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.20% | 4.50% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 11.00% |
| Property tax rate | 1.71% | 0.28% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $5,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,500 | $15,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 27 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $3,600 | $1,100 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,100 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $900 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $550 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 17.0 | 46.6 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.00 | 4.70 |
| Natural gas / mo | $52 | $42 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $134 | $194 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $69 |
| Violent crime /100k | 430 | 260 |
| Avg summer high °F | 96 | 85 |
| Avg winter low °F | 38 | 66 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 36.3 | 16.4 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 60% | 71% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 5 |