San Juan, PR vs St. Louis, MO
Moving from San Juan to St. Louis? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($350,000 → $276,878 median home) and taxes.
San Juan vs St. Louis 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 $94,973 in St. Louis, MO (−$5,027).
Livability — San Juan, PR: 56 · St. Louis, MO: 65 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,500 sqft in San Juan vs 3,161 sqft in St. Louis ($200 vs $158 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Juan, PR | St. Louis, MO | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $18,000 | $17,412 | −$588 |
| Groceries | $5,000 | $4,934 | −$66 |
| Transportation | $2,960 | $3,390 | +$430 |
| Utilities | $1,728 | $1,512 | −$216 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $2,400 | +$1,200 |
| Taxes | $37,720 | $10,488 | −$27,232 |
| Total | $66,608 | $40,136 | −$26,472 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Juan, PR | St. Louis, MO |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 100.0 | 95.0 |
| Unemployment rate | 13.00% | 4.35% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -5.5% | 0.3% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 49 | 55 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.69 | $5.40 |
| Median home price | $350,000 | $276,878 |
| Home price ÷ income | 13.0× | 3.7× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.0% | 2.9% |
| Price per square foot | $200 | $158 |
| Median rent | $1,500 | $1,451 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.0% | 9.3% |
| Combined sales tax | 11.50% | 8.38% |
| Capital gains tax | 33.00% | 4.80% |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 1.26% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,000 | $6,400 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $6,000 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 2.55% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $2,400 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,800 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,300 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $400 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.0 | 14.0 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.40 | 3.00 |
| Violent crime /100k | 350 | 490 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 89 |
| Avg winter low °F | 72 | 22 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |