San Juan, PR vs Anchorage, AK
Moving from San Juan to Anchorage? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($350,000 → $422,103 median home) and taxes.
San Juan vs Anchorage 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 Juan, PR, you'd need about $106,771 in Anchorage, AK (+$6,771).
Livability — San Juan, PR: 56 · Anchorage, AK: 49 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,500 sqft in San Juan vs 2,132 sqft in Anchorage ($200 vs $235 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Juan, PR | Anchorage, AK | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $18,000 | $21,240 | +$3,240 |
| Groceries | $5,000 | $5,224 | +$224 |
| Transportation | $2,960 | $3,350 | +$390 |
| Utilities | $1,728 | $2,952 | +$1,224 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $1,000 | −$200 |
| Taxes | $37,720 | $4,919 | −$32,801 |
| Total | $66,608 | $38,685 | −$27,923 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Juan, PR | Anchorage, AK |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 100.0 | 106.8 |
| Unemployment rate | 13.00% | 5.62% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -5.5% | -0.0% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.69 | $6.08 |
| Median home price | $350,000 | $422,103 |
| Home price ÷ income | 13.0× | 4.5× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.0% | 5.7% |
| Price per square foot | $200 | $235 |
| Median rent | $1,500 | $1,770 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.0% | 4.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 11.50% | 1.82% |
| Capital gains tax | 33.00% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 1.24% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,000 | $9,500 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $6,000 | $12,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,000 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,300 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,300 | $650 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $800 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.0 | 27.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.40 | 3.90 |
| Natural gas / mo | $5 | $68 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $40 | $164 |
| Home internet / mo | $60 | $110 |
| Violent crime /100k | 350 | 760 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 65 |
| Avg winter low °F | 72 | 5 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 57.0 | 16.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 74.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 65% | 41% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |