San Juan, PR vs Merced, CA
Moving from San Juan to Merced? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($350,000 → $419,171 median home) and taxes.
San Juan vs Merced 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 $99,618 in Merced, CA (−$382).
Livability — San Juan, PR: 56 · Merced, CA: 57 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,500 sqft in San Juan vs 1,790 sqft in Merced ($200 vs $279 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Juan, PR | Merced, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $18,000 | $23,700 | +$5,700 |
| Groceries | $5,000 | $5,247 | +$247 |
| Transportation | $2,960 | $5,125 | +$2,165 |
| Utilities | $1,728 | $3,804 | +$2,076 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $1,500 | +$300 |
| Taxes | $37,720 | $18,715 | −$19,005 |
| Total | $66,608 | $58,091 | −$8,517 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Juan, PR | Merced, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 100.0 | 99.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 13.00% | 10.70% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -5.5% | 5.6% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.69 | $5.67 |
| Median home price | $350,000 | $419,171 |
| Home price ÷ income | 13.0× | 6.5× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.0% | -1.4% |
| Price per square foot | $200 | $279 |
| Median rent | $1,500 | $1,975 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.0% | 13.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 11.50% | 8.82% |
| Capital gains tax | 33.00% | 13.30% |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 0.68% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,000 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $6,000 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 31 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,200 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,300 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $950 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.0 | 35.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.40 | 4.85 |
| Natural gas / mo | $5 | $72 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $40 | $138 |
| Home internet / mo | $60 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 350 | 500 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 72 | 45 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 57.0 | 13.5 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 65% | 75% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 5 |