San Diego, CA vs Manchester, NH
Moving from San Diego to Manchester? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($946,365 → $526,340 median home) and taxes.
San Diego vs Manchester 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 $95,378 in Manchester, NH (−$4,622).
Livability — San Diego, CA: 44 · Manchester, NH: 62 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 793 sqft in San Diego vs 1,710 sqft in Manchester ($631 vs $292 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Diego, CA | Manchester, NH | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $35,412 | $25,632 | −$9,780 |
| Groceries | $5,112 | $4,935 | −$177 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $2,955 | −$2,170 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $2,940 | −$864 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,000 | −$500 |
| Taxes | $21,601 | $6,681 | −$14,920 |
| Total | $72,554 | $44,143 | −$28,411 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Diego, CA | Manchester, NH |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 110.7 | 105.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 6.34% | 3.69% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 0.2% | 4.0% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 71 | 37 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.30 | $6.01 |
| Median home price | $946,365 | $526,340 |
| Home price ÷ income | 9.8× | 5.5× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.1% | 2.2% |
| Price per square foot | $631 | $292 |
| Median rent | $2,951 | $2,136 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 9.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 0.00% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.72% | 1.88% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $7,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $15,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 1.80% |
| Avg commute (min) | 26 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,000 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,200 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $650 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 27.2 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.25 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 120 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 81 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 10 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 3 |