Columbia, SC vs San Diego, CA
Moving from Columbia to San Diego? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($256,154 → $946,365 median home) and taxes.
Columbia 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 Columbia, SC, you'd need about $118,791 in San Diego, CA (+$18,791).
Livability — Columbia, SC: 69 · San Diego, CA: 44 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 3,903 sqft in Columbia vs 793 sqft in San Diego ($128 vs $631 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Columbia, SC | San Diego, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $18,444 | $35,412 | +$16,968 |
| Groceries | $4,797 | $5,112 | +$315 |
| Transportation | $3,465 | $5,125 | +$1,660 |
| Utilities | $1,848 | $3,804 | +$1,956 |
| Insurance | $2,000 | $1,500 | −$500 |
| Taxes | $10,215 | $21,601 | +$11,386 |
| Total | $40,769 | $72,554 | +$31,785 |
Side by side
| Metric | Columbia, SC | San Diego, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 93.2 | 110.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.71% | 6.34% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 2.9% | 0.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.30 | $6.30 |
| Median home price | $256,154 | $946,365 |
| Home price ÷ income | 4.0× | 9.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.3% | -1.1% |
| Price per square foot | $128 | $631 |
| Median rent | $1,537 | $2,951 |
| 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 | 0.63% | 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) | 25 | 26 |
| 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) | 49.5 | 9.8 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 1.5 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 62% | 68% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 5 |