Los Angeles, CA vs Charleston, WV
Moving from Los Angeles to Charleston? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($968,608 → $148,817 median home) and taxes.
Los Angeles vs Charleston 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 Los Angeles, CA, you'd need about $77,611 in Charleston, WV (−$22,389).
Livability — Los Angeles, CA: 42 · Charleston, WV: 77 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 774 sqft in Los Angeles vs 5,714 sqft in Charleston ($646 vs $88 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Los Angeles, CA | Charleston, WV | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $34,908 | $15,180 | −$19,728 |
| Groceries | $5,354 | $4,767 | −$587 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,410 | −$1,715 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,740 | −$2,064 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,300 | −$200 |
| Taxes | $21,708 | $8,230 | −$13,478 |
| Total | $72,399 | $34,627 | −$37,773 |
Side by side
| Metric | Los Angeles, CA | Charleston, WV |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 114.7 | 89.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 6.59% | 5.76% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -1.1% | 17.3% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.53 | $5.07 |
| Median home price | $968,608 | $148,817 |
| Home price ÷ income | 10.9× | 2.7× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 0.3% | 0.0% |
| Price per square foot | $646 | $88 |
| Median rent | $2,909 | $1,265 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 9.8% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 6.55% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 5.12% |
| Property tax rate | 0.69% | 0.65% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $9,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 1.66% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,300 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,700 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $650 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 16.1 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.30 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $68 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $138 | $253 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $73 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 280 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 26 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 14.3 | 45.5 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 12.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 73% | 55% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 2 |