San Diego, CA vs Anchorage, AK
Moving from San Diego to Anchorage? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($946,365 → $422,103 median home) and taxes.
San Diego vs Anchorage 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 San Diego, CA, you'd need about $96,415 in Anchorage, AK (−$3,585).
Livability — San Diego, CA: 44 · Anchorage, AK: 49 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 793 sqft in San Diego vs 2,132 sqft in Anchorage ($631 vs $235 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Diego, CA | Anchorage, AK | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $35,412 | $21,240 | −$14,172 |
| Groceries | $5,112 | $5,224 | +$111 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,350 | −$1,775 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $2,952 | −$852 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,000 | −$500 |
| Taxes | $21,601 | $4,919 | −$16,682 |
| Total | $72,554 | $38,685 | −$33,870 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Diego, CA | Anchorage, AK |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 110.7 | 106.8 |
| Unemployment rate | 6.34% | 5.62% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 0.2% | -0.0% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.30 | $6.08 |
| Median home price | $946,365 | $422,103 |
| Home price ÷ income | 9.8× | 4.5× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.1% | 5.7% |
| Price per square foot | $631 | $235 |
| Median rent | $2,951 | $1,770 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 4.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 1.82% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.72% | 1.24% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $9,500 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $12,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 26 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,000 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,300 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $650 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $800 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 27.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.90 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $68 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $138 | $164 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $110 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 760 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 65 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 5 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 9.8 | 16.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 74.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 68% | 41% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 2 |