San Juan, PR vs Charleston, WV
Moving from San Juan to Charleston? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($350,000 → $148,817 median home) and taxes.
San Juan vs Charleston 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 $89,058 in Charleston, WV (−$10,942).
Livability — San Juan, PR: 56 · Charleston, WV: 77 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,500 sqft in San Juan vs 5,714 sqft in Charleston ($200 vs $88 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Juan, PR | Charleston, WV | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $18,000 | $15,180 | −$2,820 |
| Groceries | $5,000 | $4,767 | −$233 |
| Transportation | $2,960 | $3,410 | +$450 |
| Utilities | $1,728 | $1,740 | +$12 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $1,300 | +$100 |
| Taxes | $37,720 | $8,230 | −$29,490 |
| Total | $66,608 | $34,627 | −$31,981 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Juan, PR | Charleston, WV |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 100.0 | 89.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 13.00% | 5.76% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -5.5% | 17.3% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.69 | $5.07 |
| Median home price | $350,000 | $148,817 |
| Home price ÷ income | 13.0× | 2.7× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.0% | 0.0% |
| Price per square foot | $200 | $88 |
| Median rent | $1,500 | $1,265 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.0% | 9.8% |
| Combined sales tax | 11.50% | 6.55% |
| Capital gains tax | 33.00% | 5.12% |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 0.65% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,000 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $6,000 | $9,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 1.66% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,300 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,700 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,300 | $650 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.0 | 16.1 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.40 | 3.30 |
| Natural gas / mo | $5 | $68 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $40 | $253 |
| Home internet / mo | $60 | $73 |
| Violent crime /100k | 350 | 280 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 72 | 26 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 57.0 | 45.5 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 12.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 65% | 55% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |