San Juan, PR vs Seattle, WA
Moving from San Juan to Seattle? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($350,000 → $750,279 median home) and taxes.
San Juan vs Seattle 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 $112,731 in Seattle, WA (+$12,731).
Livability — San Juan, PR: 56 · Seattle, WA: 48 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,500 sqft in San Juan vs 1,200 sqft in Seattle ($200 vs $417 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Juan, PR | Seattle, WA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $18,000 | $26,784 | +$8,784 |
| Groceries | $5,000 | $5,405 | +$405 |
| Transportation | $2,960 | $4,075 | +$1,115 |
| Utilities | $1,728 | $1,548 | −$180 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $1,500 | +$300 |
| Taxes | $37,720 | $8,826 | −$28,894 |
| Total | $66,608 | $48,138 | −$18,470 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Juan, PR | Seattle, WA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 100.0 | 112.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 13.00% | 4.59% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -5.5% | 7.1% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 49 | 47 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.69 | $6.41 |
| Median home price | $350,000 | $750,279 |
| Home price ÷ income | 13.0× | 7.0× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.0% | -1.9% |
| Price per square foot | $200 | $417 |
| Median rent | $1,500 | $2,232 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.0% | 10.7% |
| Combined sales tax | 11.50% | 9.38% |
| Capital gains tax | 33.00% | 7.00% |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 0.88% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,000 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $6,000 | $16,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 30 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,600 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,300 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $700 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.0 | 14.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.40 | 4.55 |
| Violent crime /100k | 350 | 375 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 76 |
| Avg winter low °F | 72 | 37 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 5 |