Los Angeles, CA vs New Haven, CT
Moving from Los Angeles to New Haven? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($968,608 → $408,096 median home) and taxes.
Los Angeles vs New Haven 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 $91,816 in New Haven, CT (−$8,184).
Livability — Los Angeles, CA: 42 · New Haven, CT: 58 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 774 sqft in Los Angeles vs 2,328 sqft in New Haven ($646 vs $215 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Los Angeles, CA | New Haven, CT | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $34,908 | $26,232 | −$8,676 |
| Groceries | $5,354 | $4,930 | −$424 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,720 | −$1,405 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $3,480 | −$324 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,600 | +$100 |
| Taxes | $21,708 | $15,543 | −$6,165 |
| Total | $72,399 | $55,505 | −$16,895 |
Side by side
| Metric | Los Angeles, CA | New Haven, CT |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 114.7 | 105.4 |
| Unemployment rate | 6.59% | 6.36% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -1.1% | 0.5% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 80 | 41 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.53 | $5.99 |
| Median home price | $968,608 | $408,096 |
| Home price ÷ income | 10.9× | 5.0× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 0.3% | 4.8% |
| Price per square foot | $646 | $215 |
| Median rent | $2,909 | $2,186 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 15.4% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 6.35% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 6.99% |
| Property tax rate | 0.69% | 2.17% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $8,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $16,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 2.07% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,600 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 32.2 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.40 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 150 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 85 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 18 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 4 |