Baltimore, MD vs San Diego, CA
Moving from Baltimore to San Diego? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($405,877 → $946,365 median home) and taxes.
Baltimore vs San Diego 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 Baltimore, MD, you'd need about $107,324 in San Diego, CA (+$7,324).
Livability — Baltimore, MD: 57 · San Diego, CA: 44 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,341 sqft in Baltimore vs 793 sqft in San Diego ($214 vs $631 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Baltimore, MD | San Diego, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $23,028 | $35,412 | +$12,384 |
| Groceries | $5,075 | $5,112 | +$37 |
| Transportation | $3,685 | $5,125 | +$1,440 |
| Utilities | $2,388 | $3,804 | +$1,416 |
| Insurance | $1,400 | $1,500 | +$100 |
| Taxes | $11,584 | $21,601 | +$10,017 |
| Total | $47,160 | $72,554 | +$25,394 |
Side by side
| Metric | Baltimore, MD | San Diego, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 103.2 | 110.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.86% | 6.34% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 1.7% | 0.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.87 | $6.30 |
| Median home price | $405,877 | $946,365 |
| Home price ÷ income | 4.3× | 9.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 0.8% | -1.1% |
| Price per square foot | $214 | $631 |
| Median rent | $1,919 | $2,951 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.3% | 13.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 6.00% | 8.82% |
| Capital gains tax | 5.75% | 13.30% |
| Property tax rate | 1.04% | 0.72% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 26 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,400 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,900 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $950 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 22.1 | 35.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.30 | 4.85 |
| Natural gas / mo | $88 | $72 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $106 | $138 |
| Home internet / mo | $82 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 450 | 500 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 27 | 45 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 45.0 | 9.8 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 19.3 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 57% | 68% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 4 | 5 |