San Juan, PR vs Gainesville, FL
Moving from San Juan to Gainesville? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($350,000 → $306,605 median home) and taxes.
San Juan vs Gainesville 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 $97,237 in Gainesville, FL (−$2,763).
Livability — San Juan, PR: 56 · Gainesville, FL: 70 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,500 sqft in San Juan vs 3,018 sqft in Gainesville ($200 vs $166 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Juan, PR | Gainesville, FL | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $18,000 | $20,172 | +$2,172 |
| Groceries | $5,000 | $4,813 | −$187 |
| Transportation | $2,960 | $4,800 | +$1,840 |
| Utilities | $1,728 | $1,656 | −$72 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $4,200 | +$3,000 |
| Taxes | $37,720 | $4,548 | −$33,172 |
| Total | $66,608 | $40,189 | −$26,419 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Juan, PR | Gainesville, FL |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 100.0 | 97.2 |
| Unemployment rate | 13.00% | 4.90% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -5.5% | 23.1% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 49 | 38 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.69 | $5.53 |
| Median home price | $350,000 | $306,605 |
| Home price ÷ income | 13.0× | 5.4× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.0% | -1.3% |
| Price per square foot | $200 | $166 |
| Median rent | $1,500 | $1,681 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.0% | 9.1% |
| Combined sales tax | 11.50% | 7.02% |
| Capital gains tax | 33.00% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 0.92% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,000 | $7,500 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $6,000 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $4,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,200 | $2,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,300 | $1,400 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.0 | 15.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.40 | 3.35 |
| Violent crime /100k | 350 | 380 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 91 |
| Avg winter low °F | 72 | 52 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 3 |