Sacramento, CA vs Roanoke, VA
Moving from Sacramento to Roanoke? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($582,707 → $301,139 median home) and taxes.
Sacramento vs Roanoke 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 $83,605 in Roanoke, VA (−$16,395).
Livability — Sacramento, CA: 49 · Roanoke, VA: 73 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,287 sqft in Sacramento vs 3,320 sqft in Roanoke ($389 vs $151 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Sacramento, CA | Roanoke, VA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $27,396 | $16,836 | −$10,560 |
| Groceries | $5,247 | $4,853 | −$393 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,080 | −$2,045 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,872 | −$1,932 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,500 | +$0 |
| Taxes | $20,410 | $9,549 | −$10,861 |
| Total | $63,482 | $37,690 | −$25,792 |
Side by side
| Metric | Sacramento, CA | Roanoke, VA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 109.1 | 91.2 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.74% | 4.05% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 5.6% | 0.5% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 55 | 40 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.21 | $5.19 |
| Median home price | $582,707 | $301,139 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.5× | 4.6× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.6% | 3.8% |
| Price per square foot | $389 | $151 |
| Median rent | $2,283 | $1,403 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 12.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 5.73% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 5.75% |
| Property tax rate | 0.79% | 0.81% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $15,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 3.97% |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 24 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 17.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.20 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 200 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 87 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 28 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 3 |