San Diego, CA vs Boston, MA
Moving from San Diego to Boston? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($946,365 → $741,868 median home) and taxes.
San Diego vs Boston 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 $99,686 in Boston, MA (−$314).
Livability — San Diego, CA: 44 · Boston, MA: 48 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 793 sqft in San Diego vs 1,146 sqft in Boston ($631 vs $436 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Diego, CA | Boston, MA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $35,412 | $38,532 | +$3,120 |
| Groceries | $5,112 | $5,040 | −$73 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,210 | −$1,915 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $3,180 | −$624 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,800 | +$300 |
| Taxes | $21,601 | $17,694 | −$3,907 |
| Total | $72,554 | $69,455 | −$3,099 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Diego, CA | Boston, MA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 110.7 | 110.4 |
| Unemployment rate | 6.34% | 5.02% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 0.2% | 2.9% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.30 | $6.28 |
| Median home price | $946,365 | $741,868 |
| Home price ÷ income | 9.8× | 6.9× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.1% | 1.6% |
| Price per square foot | $631 | $436 |
| Median rent | $2,951 | $3,211 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 11.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 6.25% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 9.00% |
| Property tax rate | 0.72% | 1.14% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $8,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $21,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 2.25% |
| Avg commute (min) | 26 | 31 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,800 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,500 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 29.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.30 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $108 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $138 | $71 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $78 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 330 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 82 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 22 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 9.8 | 43.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 49.2 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 68% | 58% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 4 |