San Juan, PR vs Lafayette, LA
Moving from San Juan to Lafayette? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($350,000 → $202,312 median home) and taxes.
San Juan vs Lafayette 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 $87,553 in Lafayette, LA (−$12,447).
Livability — San Juan, PR: 56 · Lafayette, LA: 72 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,500 sqft in San Juan vs 4,941 sqft in Lafayette ($200 vs $101 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Juan, PR | Lafayette, LA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $18,000 | $16,452 | −$1,548 |
| Groceries | $5,000 | $4,650 | −$350 |
| Transportation | $2,960 | $4,475 | +$1,515 |
| Utilities | $1,728 | $1,560 | −$168 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $3,500 | +$2,300 |
| Taxes | $37,720 | $8,509 | −$29,211 |
| Total | $66,608 | $39,146 | −$27,462 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Juan, PR | Lafayette, LA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 100.0 | 87.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 13.00% | 5.97% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -5.5% | -1.6% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 49 | 51 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.69 | $4.98 |
| Median home price | $350,000 | $202,312 |
| Home price ÷ income | 13.0× | 3.5× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.0% | 2.1% |
| Price per square foot | $200 | $101 |
| Median rent | $1,500 | $1,371 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.0% | 9.1% |
| Combined sales tax | 11.50% | 9.56% |
| Capital gains tax | 33.00% | 4.25% |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 0.49% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,000 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $6,000 | $8,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.10% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 26 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $3,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,200 | $2,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,300 | $1,000 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.0 | 14.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.40 | 2.95 |
| Violent crime /100k | 350 | 630 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 92 |
| Avg winter low °F | 72 | 43 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |