San Jose, CA vs Myrtle Beach, SC
Moving from San Jose to Myrtle Beach? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($1,610,466 → $340,239 median home) and taxes.
San Jose vs Myrtle Beach 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 $82,943 in Myrtle Beach, SC (−$17,057).
Livability — San Jose, CA: 32 · Myrtle Beach, SC: 67 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 466 sqft in San Jose vs 2,939 sqft in Myrtle Beach ($1074 vs $170 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Jose, CA | Myrtle Beach, SC | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $43,500 | $20,712 | −$22,788 |
| Groceries | $5,247 | $4,797 | −$449 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,465 | −$1,660 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,848 | −$1,956 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $2,000 | +$500 |
| Taxes | $25,449 | $10,008 | −$15,441 |
| Total | $84,625 | $42,830 | −$41,794 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Jose, CA | Myrtle Beach, SC |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 113.1 | 93.8 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.50% | 5.41% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 0.6% | 14.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.43 | $5.34 |
| Median home price | $1,610,466 | $340,239 |
| Home price ÷ income | 10.6× | 5.4× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.4% | -0.6% |
| Price per square foot | $1074 | $170 |
| Median rent | $3,625 | $1,726 |
| 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 | 0.71% | 0.41% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,500 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $8,500 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 2.33% |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 23 |
| 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) | 13.5 | 51.0 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 68% | 64% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 2 |