Portland, ME vs Riverside, CA
Moving from Portland to Riverside? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($542,063 → $585,378 median home) and taxes.
Portland vs Riverside 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 Portland, ME, you'd need about $102,862 in Riverside, CA (+$2,862).
Livability — Portland, ME: 58 · Riverside, CA: 48 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,568 sqft in Portland vs 1,281 sqft in Riverside ($319 vs $390 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Portland, ME | Riverside, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $27,840 | $30,228 | +$2,388 |
| Groceries | $4,917 | $5,098 | +$181 |
| Transportation | $2,775 | $5,125 | +$2,350 |
| Utilities | $3,072 | $3,804 | +$732 |
| Insurance | $1,000 | $1,500 | +$500 |
| Taxes | $12,997 | $19,978 | +$6,981 |
| Total | $52,601 | $65,733 | +$13,132 |
Side by side
| Metric | Portland, ME | Riverside, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 104.4 | 107.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.37% | 6.95% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 5.2% | 3.0% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.94 | $6.11 |
| Median home price | $542,063 | $585,378 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.4× | 7.2× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.0% | -0.8% |
| Price per square foot | $319 | $390 |
| Median rent | $2,320 | $2,519 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 12.4% | 13.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 5.50% | 8.82% |
| Capital gains tax | 7.15% | 13.30% |
| Property tax rate | 1.14% | 0.79% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $8,000 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $12,000 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.40% | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 25 | 33 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,000 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,000 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $700 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $950 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 28.4 | 35.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.35 | 4.85 |
| Natural gas / mo | $78 | $72 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $86 | $138 |
| Home internet / mo | $71 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 110 | 500 |
| Avg summer high °F | 80 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 10 | 45 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 43.6 | 9.4 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 49.2 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 48% | 78% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 5 |