San Diego, CA vs Boulder, CO
Moving from San Diego to Boulder? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($946,365 → $727,954 median home) and taxes.
San Diego vs Boulder 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 $90,855 in Boulder, CO (−$9,145).
Livability — San Diego, CA: 44 · Boulder, CO: 54 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 793 sqft in San Diego vs 1,305 sqft in Boulder ($631 vs $383 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Diego, CA | Boulder, CO | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $35,412 | $27,084 | −$8,328 |
| Groceries | $5,112 | $4,814 | −$298 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $4,050 | −$1,075 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,788 | −$2,016 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $2,800 | +$1,300 |
| Taxes | $21,601 | $10,679 | −$10,922 |
| Total | $72,554 | $51,214 | −$21,340 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Diego, CA | Boulder, CO |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 110.7 | 100.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 6.34% | 4.41% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 0.2% | 3.8% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 71 | 49 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.30 | $5.72 |
| Median home price | $946,365 | $727,954 |
| Home price ÷ income | 9.8× | 7.3× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.1% | -2.6% |
| Price per square foot | $631 | $383 |
| Median rent | $2,951 | $2,257 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 9.7% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 7.77% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 4.40% |
| Property tax rate | 0.72% | 0.53% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $16,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 1.79% |
| Avg commute (min) | 26 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $2,800 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $2,000 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $550 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 16.5 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.30 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 490 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 88 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 18 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 3 |