San Juan, PR vs Birmingham, AL
Moving from San Juan to Birmingham? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($350,000 → $262,556 median home) and taxes.
San Juan vs Birmingham 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 $91,765 in Birmingham, AL (−$8,235).
Livability — San Juan, PR: 56 · Birmingham, AL: 71 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,500 sqft in San Juan vs 3,903 sqft in Birmingham ($200 vs $128 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Juan, PR | Birmingham, AL | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $18,000 | $17,376 | −$624 |
| Groceries | $5,000 | $4,729 | −$271 |
| Transportation | $2,960 | $3,465 | +$505 |
| Utilities | $1,728 | $1,884 | +$156 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $2,400 | +$1,200 |
| Taxes | $37,720 | $9,314 | −$28,406 |
| Total | $66,608 | $39,168 | −$27,440 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Juan, PR | Birmingham, AL |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 100.0 | 91.8 |
| Unemployment rate | 13.00% | 4.90% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -5.5% | -2.6% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.69 | $5.22 |
| Median home price | $350,000 | $262,556 |
| Home price ÷ income | 13.0× | 3.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.0% | 2.0% |
| Price per square foot | $200 | $128 |
| Median rent | $1,500 | $1,448 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.0% | 9.8% |
| Combined sales tax | 11.50% | 9.25% |
| Capital gains tax | 33.00% | 5.00% |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 0.50% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,000 | $6,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $6,000 | $7,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.70% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $2,400 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,300 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.0 | 17.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.40 | 2.95 |
| Natural gas / mo | $5 | $78 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $40 | $117 |
| Home internet / mo | $60 | $76 |
| Violent crime /100k | 350 | 450 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 91 |
| Avg winter low °F | 72 | 33 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 57.0 | 56.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 1.4 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 65% | 58% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |