Sacramento, CA vs Salem, OR
Moving from Sacramento to Salem? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($582,707 → $454,689 median home) and taxes.
Sacramento vs Salem 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 $93,921 in Salem, OR (−$6,079).
Livability — Sacramento, CA: 49 · Salem, OR: 59 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,287 sqft in Sacramento vs 1,869 sqft in Salem ($389 vs $268 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Sacramento, CA | Salem, OR | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $27,396 | $19,536 | −$7,860 |
| Groceries | $5,247 | $5,239 | −$8 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,680 | −$1,445 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,704 | −$2,100 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $900 | −$600 |
| Taxes | $20,410 | $13,135 | −$7,275 |
| Total | $63,482 | $44,194 | −$19,288 |
Side by side
| Metric | Sacramento, CA | Salem, OR |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 109.1 | 102.5 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.74% | 5.41% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 5.6% | 5.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.21 | $5.83 |
| Median home price | $582,707 | $454,689 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.5× | 6.3× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.6% | 0.4% |
| Price per square foot | $389 | $268 |
| Median rent | $2,283 | $1,628 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 10.8% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 0.00% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 9.90% |
| Property tax rate | 0.79% | 0.90% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $15,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $900 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,500 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $650 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $600 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 15.8 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 4.10 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $58 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $138 | $224 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $82 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 340 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 82 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 34 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 19.2 | 43.7 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 3.4 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 78% | 48% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 4 |