San Juan, PR vs Salt Lake City, UT
Moving from San Juan to Salt Lake City? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($350,000 → $568,656 median home) and taxes.
San Juan vs Salt Lake City 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 $97,145 in Salt Lake City, UT (−$2,855).
Livability — San Juan, PR: 56 · Salt Lake City, UT: 64 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,500 sqft in San Juan vs 1,846 sqft in Salt Lake City ($200 vs $271 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Juan, PR | Salt Lake City, UT | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $18,000 | $19,692 | +$1,692 |
| Groceries | $5,000 | $4,736 | −$264 |
| Transportation | $2,960 | $3,450 | +$490 |
| Utilities | $1,728 | $1,440 | −$288 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $1,200 | +$0 |
| Taxes | $37,720 | $9,729 | −$27,991 |
| Total | $66,608 | $40,246 | −$26,362 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Juan, PR | Salt Lake City, UT |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 100.0 | 97.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 13.00% | 3.61% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -5.5% | 7.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 49 | 56 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.69 | $5.53 |
| Median home price | $350,000 | $568,656 |
| Home price ÷ income | 13.0× | 6.3× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.0% | 1.3% |
| Price per square foot | $200 | $271 |
| Median rent | $1,500 | $1,641 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.0% | 12.1% |
| Combined sales tax | 11.50% | 7.19% |
| Capital gains tax | 33.00% | 4.65% |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 0.59% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,000 | $6,000 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $6,000 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,500 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,300 | $500 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $450 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.0 | 13.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.40 | 3.60 |
| Violent crime /100k | 350 | 260 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 92 |
| Avg winter low °F | 72 | 24 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |