Laredo, TX vs Charlotte, NC
Moving from Laredo to Charlotte? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($218,391 → $390,321 median home) and taxes.
Laredo vs Charlotte 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 Laredo, TX, you'd need about $110,192 in Charlotte, NC (+$10,192).
Livability — Laredo, TX: 76 · Charlotte, NC: 66 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 4,808 sqft in Laredo vs 2,561 sqft in Charlotte ($104 vs $195 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Laredo, TX | Charlotte, NC | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $16,428 | $20,880 | +$4,452 |
| Groceries | $4,647 | $4,834 | +$187 |
| Transportation | $3,675 | $3,130 | −$545 |
| Utilities | $1,836 | $1,752 | −$84 |
| Insurance | $3,600 | $2,000 | −$1,600 |
| Taxes | $6,086 | $8,740 | +$2,654 |
| Total | $36,272 | $41,336 | +$5,064 |
Side by side
| Metric | Laredo, TX | Charlotte, NC |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 88.3 | 97.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.93% | 4.71% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -0.9% | 10.0% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.03 | $5.54 |
| Median home price | $218,391 | $390,321 |
| Home price ÷ income | 3.6× | 5.1× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 2.9% | -0.4% |
| Price per square foot | $104 | $195 |
| Median rent | $1,369 | $1,740 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 8.6% | 9.9% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.20% | 6.98% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 4.25% |
| Property tax rate | 2.00% | 0.72% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,500 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 1.10% |
| Avg commute (min) | 22 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $3,600 | $2,000 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,100 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $900 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 17.0 | 16.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.00 | 3.20 |
| Natural gas / mo | $52 | $62 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $134 | $78 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $80 |
| Violent crime /100k | 430 | 400 |
| Avg summer high °F | 96 | 89 |
| Avg winter low °F | 38 | 30 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 32.4 | 43.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.2 | 3.5 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 67% | 62% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 3 |