San Diego, CA vs Madison, WI
Moving from San Diego to Madison? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($946,365 → $452,769 median home) and taxes.
San Diego vs Madison 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 $86,629 in Madison, WI (−$13,371).
Livability — San Diego, CA: 44 · Madison, WI: 62 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 793 sqft in San Diego vs 1,878 sqft in Madison ($631 vs $266 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Diego, CA | Madison, WI | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $35,412 | $20,196 | −$15,216 |
| Groceries | $5,112 | $4,691 | −$421 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,085 | −$2,040 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $2,076 | −$1,728 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,300 | −$200 |
| Taxes | $21,601 | $15,162 | −$6,439 |
| Total | $72,554 | $46,510 | −$26,045 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Diego, CA | Madison, WI |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 110.7 | 95.9 |
| Unemployment rate | 6.34% | 2.42% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 0.2% | 6.1% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.30 | $5.46 |
| Median home price | $946,365 | $452,769 |
| Home price ÷ income | 9.8× | 5.5× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.1% | 2.7% |
| Price per square foot | $631 | $266 |
| Median rent | $2,951 | $1,683 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 10.9% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 5.43% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 7.65% |
| Property tax rate | 0.72% | 1.75% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $13,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 26 | 22 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,300 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $600 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 19.2 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.20 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $72 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $138 | $42 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $85 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 320 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 82 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 8 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 9.8 | 34.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 48.7 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 68% | 54% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 3 |