San Juan, PR vs Baltimore, MD
Moving from San Juan to Baltimore? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($350,000 → $405,877 median home) and taxes.
San Juan vs Baltimore 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 $103,184 in Baltimore, MD (+$3,184).
Livability — San Juan, PR: 56 · Baltimore, MD: 57 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,500 sqft in San Juan vs 2,341 sqft in Baltimore ($200 vs $214 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Juan, PR | Baltimore, MD | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $18,000 | $23,028 | +$5,028 |
| Groceries | $5,000 | $5,075 | +$75 |
| Transportation | $2,960 | $3,685 | +$725 |
| Utilities | $1,728 | $2,388 | +$660 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $1,400 | +$200 |
| Taxes | $37,720 | $11,584 | −$26,136 |
| Total | $66,608 | $47,160 | −$19,448 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Juan, PR | Baltimore, MD |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 100.0 | 103.2 |
| Unemployment rate | 13.00% | 4.86% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -5.5% | 1.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.69 | $5.87 |
| Median home price | $350,000 | $405,877 |
| Home price ÷ income | 13.0× | 4.3× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.0% | 0.8% |
| Price per square foot | $200 | $214 |
| Median rent | $1,500 | $1,919 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.0% | 11.3% |
| Combined sales tax | 11.50% | 6.00% |
| Capital gains tax | 33.00% | 5.75% |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 1.04% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,000 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $6,000 | $16,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 30 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,400 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,300 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.0 | 22.1 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.40 | 3.30 |
| Natural gas / mo | $5 | $88 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $40 | $106 |
| Home internet / mo | $60 | $82 |
| Violent crime /100k | 350 | 450 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 88 |
| Avg winter low °F | 72 | 27 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 57.0 | 45.0 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 19.3 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 65% | 57% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 4 |