Sacramento, CA vs Jackson, MS
Moving from Sacramento to Jackson? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($582,707 → $215,136 median home) and taxes.
Sacramento vs Jackson 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 Sacramento, CA, you'd need about $82,351 in Jackson, MS (−$17,649).
Livability — Sacramento, CA: 49 · Jackson, MS: 76 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,287 sqft in Sacramento vs 4,766 sqft in Jackson ($389 vs $105 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Sacramento, CA | Jackson, MS | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $27,396 | $17,400 | −$9,996 |
| Groceries | $5,247 | $4,722 | −$525 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,410 | −$1,715 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,812 | −$1,992 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $3,100 | +$1,600 |
| Taxes | $20,410 | $8,536 | −$11,874 |
| Total | $63,482 | $38,980 | −$24,502 |
Side by side
| Metric | Sacramento, CA | Jackson, MS |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 109.1 | 89.8 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.74% | 6.03% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 5.6% | 2.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 55 | 48 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.21 | $5.11 |
| Median home price | $582,707 | $215,136 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.5× | 3.6× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.6% | 2.4% |
| Price per square foot | $389 | $105 |
| Median rent | $2,283 | $1,450 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 9.8% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 7.07% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 4.70% |
| Property tax rate | 0.79% | 0.77% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,300 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $6,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 3.42% |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $3,100 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $900 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 16.8 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 2.90 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 280 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 92 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 38 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 2 |