Charleston, SC vs San Francisco, CA
Moving from Charleston to San Francisco? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($435,877 → $1,149,215 median home) and taxes.
Charleston vs San Francisco 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 Charleston, SC, you'd need about $116,274 in San Francisco, CA (+$16,274).
Livability — Charleston, SC: 60 · San Francisco, CA: 35 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,295 sqft in Charleston vs 653 sqft in San Francisco ($218 vs $766 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Charleston, SC | San Francisco, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $24,288 | $39,096 | +$14,808 |
| Groceries | $4,797 | $5,761 | +$964 |
| Transportation | $3,465 | $5,125 | +$1,660 |
| Utilities | $1,848 | $3,804 | +$1,956 |
| Insurance | $2,000 | $1,500 | −$500 |
| Taxes | $10,552 | $24,108 | +$13,556 |
| Total | $46,950 | $79,394 | +$32,444 |
Side by side
| Metric | Charleston, SC | San Francisco, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 101.1 | 117.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.07% | 5.22% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 8.0% | 1.1% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.75 | $6.69 |
| Median home price | $435,877 | $1,149,215 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.6× | 8.9× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -0.9% | -0.8% |
| Price per square foot | $218 | $766 |
| Median rent | $2,024 | $3,258 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 8.9% | 13.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.44% | 8.82% |
| Capital gains tax | 6.40% | 13.30% |
| Property tax rate | 0.49% | 0.72% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,500 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $8,500 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.33% | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 27 | 33 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,000 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,900 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $900 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $350 | $950 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 17.1 | 35.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.05 | 4.85 |
| Natural gas / mo | $56 | $72 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $97 | $138 |
| Home internet / mo | $78 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 530 | 500 |
| Avg summer high °F | 91 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 36 | 45 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 51.0 | 22.9 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 1.0 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 62% | 66% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 5 |