Philadelphia, PA vs Syracuse, NY
Moving from Philadelphia to Syracuse? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($390,463 → $264,903 median home) and taxes.
Philadelphia vs Syracuse 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 Philadelphia, PA, you'd need about $93,507 in Syracuse, NY (−$6,493).
Livability — Philadelphia, PA: 62 · Syracuse, NY: 61 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,241 sqft in Philadelphia vs 3,019 sqft in Syracuse ($223 vs $166 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Philadelphia, PA | Syracuse, NY | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $22,968 | $19,596 | −$3,372 |
| Groceries | $4,909 | $4,868 | −$41 |
| Transportation | $3,440 | $3,895 | +$455 |
| Utilities | $2,316 | $3,180 | +$864 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $1,600 | +$400 |
| Taxes | $10,192 | $18,225 | +$8,033 |
| Total | $45,025 | $51,364 | +$6,339 |
Side by side
| Metric | Philadelphia, PA | Syracuse, NY |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 102.4 | 95.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 6.12% | 5.79% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 2.8% | -0.1% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.82 | $5.45 |
| Median home price | $390,463 | $264,903 |
| Home price ÷ income | 4.6× | 3.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 2.5% | 6.6% |
| Price per square foot | $223 | $166 |
| Median rent | $1,914 | $1,633 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.6% | 15.9% |
| Combined sales tax | 6.34% | 8.52% |
| Capital gains tax | 3.07% | 10.90% |
| Property tax rate | 1.61% | 2.64% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,000 | $7,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $12,000 | $17,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 29 | 21 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,600 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,600 | $2,100 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $650 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 21.5 | 29.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.55 | 3.45 |
| Natural gas / mo | $82 | $98 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $65 | $87 |
| Home internet / mo | $78 | $76 |
| Violent crime /100k | 390 | 350 |
| Avg summer high °F | 85 | 83 |
| Avg winter low °F | 22 | 16 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 44.1 | 40.0 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 23.1 | 48.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 56% | 50% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 5 |