San Juan, PR vs Chattanooga, TN
Moving from San Juan to Chattanooga? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($350,000 → $326,370 median home) and taxes.
San Juan vs Chattanooga 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 $92,350 in Chattanooga, TN (−$7,650).
Livability — San Juan, PR: 56 · Chattanooga, TN: 67 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,500 sqft in San Juan vs 3,064 sqft in Chattanooga ($200 vs $163 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Juan, PR | Chattanooga, TN | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $18,000 | $18,360 | +$360 |
| Groceries | $5,000 | $4,704 | −$296 |
| Transportation | $2,960 | $3,130 | +$170 |
| Utilities | $1,728 | $1,608 | −$120 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $2,200 | +$1,000 |
| Taxes | $37,720 | $4,907 | −$32,813 |
| Total | $66,608 | $34,908 | −$31,700 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Juan, PR | Chattanooga, TN |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 100.0 | 92.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 13.00% | 4.49% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -5.5% | 2.9% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 49 | 52 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.69 | $5.25 |
| Median home price | $350,000 | $326,370 |
| Home price ÷ income | 13.0× | 5.0× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.0% | 0.2% |
| Price per square foot | $200 | $163 |
| Median rent | $1,500 | $1,530 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.0% | 7.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 11.50% | 9.55% |
| Capital gains tax | 33.00% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 0.71% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,000 | $6,300 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $6,000 | $9,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 24 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $2,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,600 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,300 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $350 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.0 | 14.9 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.40 | 2.95 |
| Violent crime /100k | 350 | 600 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 89 |
| Avg winter low °F | 72 | 30 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |