Boston, MA vs Santa Cruz, CA
Moving from Boston to Santa Cruz? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($741,868 → $1,157,157 median home) and taxes.
Boston 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 Boston, MA, you'd need about $102,157 in Santa Cruz, CA (+$2,157).
Livability — Boston, MA: 48 · Santa Cruz, CA: 38 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,146 sqft in Boston vs 648 sqft in Santa Cruz ($436 vs $771 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Boston, MA | Santa Cruz, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $38,532 | $43,188 | +$4,656 |
| Groceries | $5,040 | $5,247 | +$207 |
| Transportation | $3,210 | $5,125 | +$1,915 |
| Utilities | $3,180 | $3,804 | +$624 |
| Insurance | $1,800 | $1,500 | −$300 |
| Taxes | $17,694 | $22,398 | +$4,705 |
| Total | $69,455 | $81,262 | +$11,807 |
Side by side
| Metric | Boston, MA | Santa Cruz, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 110.4 | 112.8 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.02% | 5.94% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 2.9% | -1.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.28 | $6.42 |
| Median home price | $741,868 | $1,157,157 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.9× | 11.1× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.6% | 2.9% |
| Price per square foot | $436 | $771 |
| Median rent | $3,211 | $3,599 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.5% | 13.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 6.25% | 8.82% |
| Capital gains tax | 9.00% | 13.30% |
| Property tax rate | 1.14% | 0.63% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $8,200 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $21,000 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.25% | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 31 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,800 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,500 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $800 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $950 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 29.4 | 35.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.30 | 4.85 |
| Natural gas / mo | $108 | $72 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $71 | $138 |
| Home internet / mo | $78 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 330 | 500 |
| Avg summer high °F | 82 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 22 | 45 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 43.6 | 22.9 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 49.2 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 58% | 68% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 4 | 5 |