San Diego, CA vs Huntington, WV
Moving from San Diego to Huntington? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($946,365 → $166,506 median home) and taxes.
San Diego vs Huntington 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 $79,561 in Huntington, WV (−$20,439).
Livability — San Diego, CA: 44 · Huntington, WV: 77 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 793 sqft in San Diego vs 5,107 sqft in Huntington ($631 vs $98 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Diego, CA | Huntington, WV | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $35,412 | $13,128 | −$22,284 |
| Groceries | $5,112 | $4,773 | −$339 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,410 | −$1,715 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,740 | −$2,064 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,300 | −$200 |
| Taxes | $21,601 | $8,423 | −$13,178 |
| Total | $72,554 | $32,774 | −$39,780 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Diego, CA | Huntington, WV |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 110.7 | 88.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 6.34% | 5.32% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 0.2% | -0.4% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 71 | 44 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.30 | $5.01 |
| Median home price | $946,365 | $166,506 |
| Home price ÷ income | 9.8× | 3.0× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.1% | 0.5% |
| Price per square foot | $631 | $98 |
| Median rent | $2,951 | $1,094 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 9.8% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 6.55% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 5.12% |
| Property tax rate | 0.72% | 0.71% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $9,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 1.66% |
| Avg commute (min) | 26 | 24 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,300 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,700 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $650 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 16.1 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.30 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 280 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 26 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 2 |