San Jose, CA vs Boise City, ID
Moving from San Jose to Boise City? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($1,610,466 → $496,288 median home) and taxes.
San Jose vs Boise City 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 Jose, CA, you'd need about $83,358 in Boise City, ID (−$16,642).
Livability — San Jose, CA: 32 · Boise City, ID: 68 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 466 sqft in San Jose vs 1,864 sqft in Boise City ($1074 vs $268 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Jose, CA | Boise City, ID | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $43,500 | $22,044 | −$21,456 |
| Groceries | $5,247 | $4,790 | −$457 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,090 | −$2,035 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,368 | −$2,436 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,300 | −$200 |
| Taxes | $25,449 | $10,170 | −$15,279 |
| Total | $84,625 | $42,761 | −$41,864 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Jose, CA | Boise City, ID |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 113.1 | 94.2 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.50% | 3.29% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 0.6% | 13.9% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 51 | 54 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.43 | $5.36 |
| Median home price | $1,610,466 | $496,288 |
| Home price ÷ income | 10.6× | 6.4× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.4% | 0.3% |
| Price per square foot | $1074 | $268 |
| Median rent | $3,625 | $1,837 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 10.7% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 6.03% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 5.80% |
| Property tax rate | 0.71% | 0.59% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $8,500 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,300 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,100 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $500 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $300 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 12.7 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.70 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 240 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 90 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 24 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 2 |