San Diego, CA vs Tucson, AZ
Moving from San Diego to Tucson? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($946,365 → $343,580 median home) and taxes.
San Diego vs Tucson 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 $85,724 in Tucson, AZ (−$14,276).
Livability — San Diego, CA: 44 · Tucson, AZ: 70 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 793 sqft in San Diego vs 2,693 sqft in Tucson ($631 vs $186 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Diego, CA | Tucson, AZ | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $35,412 | $17,676 | −$17,736 |
| Groceries | $5,112 | $4,841 | −$272 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,960 | −$1,165 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,668 | −$2,136 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,800 | +$300 |
| Taxes | $21,601 | $7,594 | −$14,007 |
| Total | $72,554 | $37,539 | −$35,016 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Diego, CA | Tucson, AZ |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 110.7 | 94.9 |
| Unemployment rate | 6.34% | 5.87% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 0.2% | 3.5% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.30 | $5.40 |
| Median home price | $946,365 | $343,580 |
| Home price ÷ income | 9.8× | 5.3× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.1% | -2.1% |
| Price per square foot | $631 | $186 |
| Median rent | $2,951 | $1,473 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 9.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 8.38% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 2.50% |
| Property tax rate | 0.72% | 0.84% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,300 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $12,500 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 1.68% |
| Avg commute (min) | 26 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,800 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $550 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 15.5 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.60 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $54 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $138 | $106 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $77 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 430 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 104 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 41 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 9.8 | 10.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 68% | 85% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 2 |