San Juan, PR vs Mobile, AL
Moving from San Juan to Mobile? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($350,000 → $197,857 median home) and taxes.
San Juan vs Mobile 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 $88,738 in Mobile, AL (−$11,262).
Livability — San Juan, PR: 56 · Mobile, AL: 73 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,500 sqft in San Juan vs 5,181 sqft in Mobile ($200 vs $97 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Juan, PR | Mobile, AL | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $18,000 | $15,876 | −$2,124 |
| Groceries | $5,000 | $4,729 | −$271 |
| Transportation | $2,960 | $3,465 | +$505 |
| Utilities | $1,728 | $1,884 | +$156 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $2,400 | +$1,200 |
| Taxes | $37,720 | $9,039 | −$28,681 |
| Total | $66,608 | $37,393 | −$29,215 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Juan, PR | Mobile, AL |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 100.0 | 88.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 13.00% | 5.91% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -5.5% | 3.6% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 49 | 45 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.69 | $5.05 |
| Median home price | $350,000 | $197,857 |
| Home price ÷ income | 13.0× | 3.6× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.0% | -0.4% |
| Price per square foot | $200 | $97 |
| Median rent | $1,500 | $1,323 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.0% | 9.8% |
| Combined sales tax | 11.50% | 9.25% |
| Capital gains tax | 33.00% | 5.00% |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 0.49% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,000 | $6,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $6,000 | $7,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.70% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 26 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $2,400 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,300 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.0 | 17.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.40 | 2.95 |
| Violent crime /100k | 350 | 450 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 91 |
| Avg winter low °F | 72 | 33 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |