San Francisco, CA vs Charleston, SC
Moving from San Francisco to Charleston? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($1,149,215 → $435,877 median home) and taxes.
San Francisco vs Charleston 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 $86,004 in Charleston, SC (−$13,996).
Livability — San Francisco, CA: 35 · Charleston, SC: 60 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 653 sqft in San Francisco vs 2,295 sqft in Charleston ($766 vs $218 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Francisco, CA | Charleston, SC | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $39,096 | $24,288 | −$14,808 |
| Groceries | $5,761 | $4,797 | −$963 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,465 | −$1,660 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,848 | −$1,956 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $2,000 | +$500 |
| Taxes | $24,108 | $10,552 | −$13,556 |
| Total | $79,394 | $46,950 | −$32,443 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Francisco, CA | Charleston, SC |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 117.6 | 101.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.22% | 4.07% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 1.1% | 8.0% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.69 | $5.75 |
| Median home price | $1,149,215 | $435,877 |
| Home price ÷ income | 8.9× | 5.6× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -0.8% | -0.9% |
| Price per square foot | $766 | $218 |
| Median rent | $3,258 | $2,024 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 8.9% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 7.44% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 6.40% |
| Property tax rate | 0.72% | 0.49% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,500 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $8,500 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 2.33% |
| Avg commute (min) | 33 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $2,000 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $900 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $350 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 17.1 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.05 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $56 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $138 | $97 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $78 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 530 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 91 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 36 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 22.9 | 51.0 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 66% | 62% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 2 |