Los Angeles, CA vs Santa Cruz, CA
Moving from Los Angeles to Santa Cruz? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($968,608 → $1,157,157 median home) and taxes.
Los Angeles vs Santa Cruz 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 $98,279 in Santa Cruz, CA (−$1,721).
Livability — Los Angeles, CA: 42 · Santa Cruz, CA: 38 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 774 sqft in Los Angeles vs 648 sqft in Santa Cruz ($646 vs $771 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Los Angeles, CA | Santa Cruz, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $34,908 | $43,188 | +$8,280 |
| Groceries | $5,354 | $5,247 | −$107 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $5,125 | +$0 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $3,804 | +$0 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,500 | +$0 |
| Taxes | $21,708 | $22,398 | +$690 |
| Total | $72,399 | $81,262 | +$8,863 |
Side by side
| Metric | Los Angeles, CA | Santa Cruz, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 114.7 | 112.8 |
| Unemployment rate | 6.59% | 5.94% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -1.1% | -1.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.53 | $6.42 |
| Median home price | $968,608 | $1,157,157 |
| Home price ÷ income | 10.9× | 11.1× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 0.3% | 2.9% |
| Price per square foot | $646 | $771 |
| Median rent | $2,909 | $3,599 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 13.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 8.82% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 13.30% |
| Property tax rate | 0.69% | 0.63% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $950 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 35.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 4.85 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $72 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $138 | $138 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 500 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 45 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 14.3 | 22.9 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 73% | 68% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 5 |