San Jose, CA vs Brownsville, TX
Moving from San Jose to Brownsville? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($1,610,466 → $207,150 median home) and taxes.
San Jose vs Brownsville 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 $75,800 in Brownsville, TX (−$24,200).
Livability — San Jose, CA: 32 · Brownsville, TX: 78 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 466 sqft in San Jose vs 5,071 sqft in Brownsville ($1074 vs $99 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Jose, CA | Brownsville, TX | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $43,500 | $17,520 | −$25,980 |
| Groceries | $5,247 | $4,647 | −$600 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,675 | −$1,450 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,836 | −$1,968 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $3,600 | +$2,100 |
| Taxes | $25,449 | $4,718 | −$20,731 |
| Total | $84,625 | $35,996 | −$48,629 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Jose, CA | Brownsville, TX |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 113.1 | 85.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.50% | 5.71% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 0.6% | 0.4% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 51 | 61 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.43 | $4.88 |
| Median home price | $1,610,466 | $207,150 |
| Home price ÷ income | 10.6× | 4.4× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.4% | 1.7% |
| Price per square foot | $1074 | $99 |
| Median rent | $3,625 | $1,460 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 8.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 8.20% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.71% | 1.69% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $9,500 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 20 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $3,600 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $2,100 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $900 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 17.0 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.00 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 430 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 96 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 38 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 2 |