Madison, WI vs San Diego, CA
Moving from Madison to San Diego? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($452,769 → $946,365 median home) and taxes.
Madison vs San Diego 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 Madison, WI, you'd need about $115,435 in San Diego, CA (+$15,435).
Livability — Madison, WI: 62 · San Diego, CA: 44 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,878 sqft in Madison vs 793 sqft in San Diego ($266 vs $631 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Madison, WI | San Diego, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $20,196 | $35,412 | +$15,216 |
| Groceries | $4,691 | $5,112 | +$421 |
| Transportation | $3,085 | $5,125 | +$2,040 |
| Utilities | $2,076 | $3,804 | +$1,728 |
| Insurance | $1,300 | $1,500 | +$200 |
| Taxes | $15,162 | $21,601 | +$6,440 |
| Total | $46,510 | $72,554 | +$26,045 |
Side by side
| Metric | Madison, WI | San Diego, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 95.9 | 110.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 2.42% | 6.34% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 6.1% | 0.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.46 | $6.30 |
| Median home price | $452,769 | $946,365 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.5× | 9.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 2.7% | -1.1% |
| Price per square foot | $266 | $631 |
| Median rent | $1,683 | $2,951 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.9% | 13.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 5.43% | 8.82% |
| Capital gains tax | 7.65% | 13.30% |
| Property tax rate | 1.75% | 0.72% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $13,000 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 22 | 26 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,300 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,400 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $600 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $950 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 19.2 | 35.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.20 | 4.85 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $72 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $42 | $138 |
| Home internet / mo | $85 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 320 | 500 |
| Avg summer high °F | 82 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 8 | 45 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 34.6 | 9.8 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 48.7 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 54% | 68% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 5 |