New York, NY vs Scranton, PA
Moving from New York to Scranton? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($727,625 → $227,793 median home) and taxes.
New York vs Scranton 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 New York, NY, you'd need about $82,907 in Scranton, PA (−$17,093).
Livability — New York, NY: 44 · Scranton, PA: 68 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,099 sqft in New York vs 3,840 sqft in Scranton ($455 vs $130 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | New York, NY | Scranton, PA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $42,036 | $16,296 | −$25,740 |
| Groceries | $5,415 | $4,915 | −$500 |
| Transportation | $3,895 | $3,440 | −$455 |
| Utilities | $3,180 | $2,316 | −$864 |
| Insurance | $1,600 | $1,200 | −$400 |
| Taxes | $23,496 | $7,898 | −$15,598 |
| Total | $79,622 | $36,065 | −$43,557 |
Side by side
| Metric | New York, NY | Scranton, PA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 112.6 | 93.4 |
| Unemployment rate | 6.55% | 5.40% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -1.4% | 1.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 52 | 40 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.41 | $5.31 |
| Median home price | $727,625 | $227,793 |
| Home price ÷ income | 7.8× | 3.7× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 4.1% | 1.0% |
| Price per square foot | $455 | $130 |
| Median rent | $3,503 | $1,358 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 15.9% | 10.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.52% | 6.34% |
| Capital gains tax | 10.90% | 3.07% |
| Property tax rate | 1.74% | 1.60% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,800 | $7,000 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $17,000 | $12,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 36 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,600 | $1,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,100 | $1,600 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $800 | $650 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 29.4 | 21.5 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.45 | 3.55 |
| Violent crime /100k | 350 | 390 |
| Avg summer high °F | 83 | 85 |
| Avg winter low °F | 16 | 22 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 3 |