Portland, ME vs San Diego, CA
Moving from Portland to San Diego? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($542,063 → $946,365 median home) and taxes.
Portland 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 Portland, ME, you'd need about $106,121 in San Diego, CA (+$6,121).
Livability — Portland, ME: 58 · San Diego, CA: 44 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,568 sqft in Portland vs 793 sqft in San Diego ($319 vs $631 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Portland, ME | San Diego, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $27,840 | $35,412 | +$7,572 |
| Groceries | $4,917 | $5,112 | +$196 |
| Transportation | $2,775 | $5,125 | +$2,350 |
| Utilities | $3,072 | $3,804 | +$732 |
| Insurance | $1,000 | $1,500 | +$500 |
| Taxes | $12,997 | $21,601 | +$8,604 |
| Total | $52,601 | $72,554 | +$19,954 |
Side by side
| Metric | Portland, ME | San Diego, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 104.4 | 110.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.37% | 6.34% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 5.2% | 0.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 39 | 71 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.94 | $6.30 |
| Median home price | $542,063 | $946,365 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.4× | 9.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.0% | -1.1% |
| Price per square foot | $319 | $631 |
| Median rent | $2,320 | $2,951 |
| 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% | 0.72% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $8,000 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $12,000 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.40% | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 25 | 26 |
| 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 |
| Violent crime /100k | 110 | 500 |
| Avg summer high °F | 80 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 10 | 45 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 5 |