San Juan, PR vs Appleton, WI
Moving from San Juan to Appleton? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($350,000 → $350,370 median home) and taxes.
San Juan vs Appleton 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 $93,736 in Appleton, WI (−$6,264).
Livability — San Juan, PR: 56 · Appleton, WI: 65 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,500 sqft in San Juan vs 2,426 sqft in Appleton ($200 vs $206 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Juan, PR | Appleton, WI | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $18,000 | $14,604 | −$3,396 |
| Groceries | $5,000 | $4,691 | −$309 |
| Transportation | $2,960 | $3,085 | +$125 |
| Utilities | $1,728 | $2,076 | +$348 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $1,300 | +$100 |
| Taxes | $37,720 | $13,083 | −$24,637 |
| Total | $66,608 | $38,839 | −$27,769 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Juan, PR | Appleton, WI |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 100.0 | 93.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 13.00% | 2.92% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -5.5% | 4.3% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.69 | $5.33 |
| Median home price | $350,000 | $350,370 |
| Home price ÷ income | 13.0× | 4.4× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.0% | 6.1% |
| Price per square foot | $200 | $206 |
| Median rent | $1,500 | $1,217 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.0% | 10.9% |
| Combined sales tax | 11.50% | 5.43% |
| Capital gains tax | 33.00% | 7.65% |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 1.56% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,000 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $6,000 | $13,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 21 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,300 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,300 | $600 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.0 | 19.2 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.40 | 3.20 |
| Natural gas / mo | $5 | $72 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $40 | $42 |
| Home internet / mo | $60 | $85 |
| Violent crime /100k | 350 | 320 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 82 |
| Avg winter low °F | 72 | 8 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 57.0 | 34.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 48.7 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 65% | 54% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 3 |