San Francisco, CA vs Baton Rouge, LA
Moving from San Francisco to Baton Rouge? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($1,149,215 → $248,176 median home) and taxes.
San Francisco vs Baton Rouge 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 Francisco, CA, you'd need about $77,611 in Baton Rouge, LA (−$22,389).
Livability — San Francisco, CA: 35 · Baton Rouge, LA: 69 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 653 sqft in San Francisco vs 4,029 sqft in Baton Rouge ($766 vs $124 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Francisco, CA | Baton Rouge, LA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $39,096 | $16,716 | −$22,380 |
| Groceries | $5,761 | $4,650 | −$1,111 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $4,475 | −$650 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,560 | −$2,244 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $3,500 | +$2,000 |
| Taxes | $24,108 | $8,854 | −$15,254 |
| Total | $79,394 | $39,755 | −$39,639 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Francisco, CA | Baton Rouge, LA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 117.6 | 91.2 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.22% | 6.51% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 1.1% | 5.0% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.69 | $5.19 |
| Median home price | $1,149,215 | $248,176 |
| Home price ÷ income | 8.9× | 3.7× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -0.8% | 1.5% |
| Price per square foot | $766 | $124 |
| Median rent | $3,258 | $1,393 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 9.1% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 9.56% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 4.25% |
| Property tax rate | 0.72% | 0.56% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $8,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 0.10% |
| Avg commute (min) | 33 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $3,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $2,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $1,000 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 14.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 2.95 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $52 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $138 | $108 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $76 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 630 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 92 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 43 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 22.9 | 63.4 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 66% | 57% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 2 |