San Diego, CA vs Fort Wayne, IN
Moving from San Diego to Fort Wayne? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($946,365 → $259,816 median home) and taxes.
San Diego vs Fort Wayne 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 $81,043 in Fort Wayne, IN (−$18,957).
Livability — San Diego, CA: 44 · Fort Wayne, IN: 72 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 793 sqft in San Diego vs 3,658 sqft in Fort Wayne ($631 vs $137 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Diego, CA | Fort Wayne, IN | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $35,412 | $15,168 | −$20,244 |
| Groceries | $5,112 | $4,740 | −$372 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,250 | −$1,875 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,932 | −$1,872 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,600 | +$100 |
| Taxes | $21,601 | $6,922 | −$14,679 |
| Total | $72,554 | $33,612 | −$38,942 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Diego, CA | Fort Wayne, IN |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 110.7 | 89.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 6.34% | 4.76% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 0.2% | -2.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 71 | 47 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.30 | $5.11 |
| Median home price | $946,365 | $259,816 |
| Home price ÷ income | 9.8× | 3.9× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.1% | 2.9% |
| Price per square foot | $631 | $137 |
| Median rent | $2,951 | $1,264 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 9.3% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 7.00% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 3.05% |
| Property tax rate | 0.72% | 0.81% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $12,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 1.20% |
| Avg commute (min) | 26 | 22 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,600 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $600 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 17.9 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.30 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 360 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 86 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 20 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 2 |