San Juan, PR vs Boston, MA
Moving from San Juan to Boston? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($350,000 → $741,868 median home) and taxes.
San Juan vs Boston 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 $110,393 in Boston, MA (+$10,393).
Livability — San Juan, PR: 56 · Boston, MA: 48 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,500 sqft in San Juan vs 1,146 sqft in Boston ($200 vs $436 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Juan, PR | Boston, MA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $18,000 | $38,532 | +$20,532 |
| Groceries | $5,000 | $5,040 | +$40 |
| Transportation | $2,960 | $3,210 | +$250 |
| Utilities | $1,728 | $3,180 | +$1,452 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $1,800 | +$600 |
| Taxes | $37,720 | $17,694 | −$20,026 |
| Total | $66,608 | $69,455 | +$2,847 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Juan, PR | Boston, MA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 100.0 | 110.4 |
| Unemployment rate | 13.00% | 5.02% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -5.5% | 2.9% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.69 | $6.28 |
| Median home price | $350,000 | $741,868 |
| Home price ÷ income | 13.0× | 6.9× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.0% | 1.6% |
| Price per square foot | $200 | $436 |
| Median rent | $1,500 | $3,211 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.0% | 11.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 11.50% | 6.25% |
| Capital gains tax | 33.00% | 9.00% |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 1.14% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,000 | $8,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $6,000 | $21,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 2.25% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 31 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,800 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,500 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,300 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.0 | 29.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.40 | 3.30 |
| Natural gas / mo | $5 | $108 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $40 | $71 |
| Home internet / mo | $60 | $78 |
| Violent crime /100k | 350 | 330 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 82 |
| Avg winter low °F | 72 | 22 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 57.0 | 43.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 49.2 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 65% | 58% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 4 |