Sacramento, CA vs Scranton, PA
Moving from Sacramento to Scranton? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($582,707 → $227,793 median home) and taxes.
Sacramento vs Scranton 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 $85,608 in Scranton, PA (−$14,392).
Livability — Sacramento, CA: 49 · Scranton, PA: 68 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,287 sqft in Sacramento vs 3,840 sqft in Scranton ($389 vs $130 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Sacramento, CA | Scranton, PA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $27,396 | $16,296 | −$11,100 |
| Groceries | $5,247 | $4,915 | −$332 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,440 | −$1,685 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $2,316 | −$1,488 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,200 | −$300 |
| Taxes | $20,410 | $7,898 | −$12,512 |
| Total | $63,482 | $36,065 | −$27,417 |
Side by side
| Metric | Sacramento, CA | Scranton, PA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 109.1 | 93.4 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.74% | 5.40% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 5.6% | 1.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 55 | 40 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.21 | $5.31 |
| Median home price | $582,707 | $227,793 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.5× | 3.7× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.6% | 1.0% |
| Price per square foot | $389 | $130 |
| Median rent | $2,283 | $1,358 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 10.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 6.34% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 3.07% |
| Property tax rate | 0.79% | 1.60% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $7,000 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $12,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,600 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $650 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 21.5 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.55 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 390 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 85 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 22 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 3 |