Portland, OR vs Santa Cruz, CA
Moving from Portland to Santa Cruz? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($552,022 → $1,157,157 median home) and taxes.
Portland vs Santa Cruz 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, OR, you'd need about $105,679 in Santa Cruz, CA (+$5,679).
Livability — Portland, OR: 55 · Santa Cruz, CA: 38 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,540 sqft in Portland vs 648 sqft in Santa Cruz ($325 vs $771 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Portland, OR | Santa Cruz, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $21,564 | $43,188 | +$21,624 |
| Groceries | $5,240 | $5,247 | +$7 |
| Transportation | $3,680 | $5,125 | +$1,445 |
| Utilities | $1,704 | $3,804 | +$2,100 |
| Insurance | $900 | $1,500 | +$600 |
| Taxes | $14,382 | $22,398 | +$8,016 |
| Total | $47,470 | $81,262 | +$33,792 |
Side by side
| Metric | Portland, OR | Santa Cruz, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 106.7 | 112.8 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.06% | 5.94% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 5.2% | -1.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.07 | $6.42 |
| Median home price | $552,022 | $1,157,157 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.1× | 11.1× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.1% | 2.9% |
| Price per square foot | $325 | $771 |
| Median rent | $1,797 | $3,599 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.8% | 13.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 0.00% | 8.82% |
| Capital gains tax | 9.90% | 13.30% |
| Property tax rate | 0.92% | 0.63% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,600 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $15,000 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 26 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $900 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,500 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $650 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $600 | $950 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 15.8 | 35.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.10 | 4.85 |
| Natural gas / mo | $58 | $72 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $224 | $138 |
| Home internet / mo | $82 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 340 | 500 |
| Avg summer high °F | 82 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 34 | 45 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 43.7 | 22.9 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 3.4 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 48% | 68% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 4 | 5 |