Hickory, NC vs San Jose, CA
Moving from Hickory to San Jose? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($271,739 → $1,610,466 median home) and taxes.
Hickory vs San Jose 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 Hickory, NC, you'd need about $126,501 in San Jose, CA (+$26,501).
Livability — Hickory, NC: 73 · San Jose, CA: 32 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 3,679 sqft in Hickory vs 466 sqft in San Jose ($136 vs $1074 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Hickory, NC | San Jose, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $17,952 | $43,500 | +$25,548 |
| Groceries | $4,840 | $5,247 | +$407 |
| Transportation | $3,130 | $5,125 | +$1,995 |
| Utilities | $1,752 | $3,804 | +$2,052 |
| Insurance | $2,000 | $1,500 | −$500 |
| Taxes | $7,879 | $25,449 | +$17,570 |
| Total | $37,553 | $84,625 | +$47,072 |
Side by side
| Metric | Hickory, NC | San Jose, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 89.4 | 113.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.52% | 4.50% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 0.5% | 0.6% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 46 | 51 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.09 | $6.43 |
| Median home price | $271,739 | $1,610,466 |
| Home price ÷ income | 4.7× | 10.6× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 2.3% | -1.4% |
| Price per square foot | $136 | $1074 |
| Median rent | $1,496 | $3,625 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.9% | 13.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 6.98% | 8.82% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.25% | 13.30% |
| Property tax rate | 0.69% | 0.71% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,600 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 1.10% | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 24 | 28 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,000 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,400 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $800 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $950 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.3 | 35.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.20 | 4.85 |
| Violent crime /100k | 400 | 500 |
| Avg summer high °F | 89 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 45 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 5 |