Santa Cruz, CA vs Denver, CO
Moving from Santa Cruz to Denver? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($1,157,157 → $573,221 median home) and taxes.
Santa Cruz vs Denver 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 Santa Cruz, CA, you'd need about $93,788 in Denver, CO (−$6,212).
Livability — Santa Cruz, CA: 38 · Denver, CO: 52 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 648 sqft in Santa Cruz vs 1,657 sqft in Denver ($771 vs $302 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Santa Cruz, CA | Denver, CO | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $43,188 | $22,920 | −$20,268 |
| Groceries | $5,247 | $5,079 | −$168 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $4,050 | −$1,075 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,788 | −$2,016 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $2,800 | +$1,300 |
| Taxes | $22,398 | $9,828 | −$12,570 |
| Total | $81,262 | $46,464 | −$34,797 |
Side by side
| Metric | Santa Cruz, CA | Denver, CO |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 112.8 | 105.8 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.94% | 4.26% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -1.7% | 5.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 39 | 64 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.42 | $6.02 |
| Median home price | $1,157,157 | $573,221 |
| Home price ÷ income | 11.1× | 5.9× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 2.9% | -2.9% |
| Price per square foot | $771 | $302 |
| Median rent | $3,599 | $1,910 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 9.7% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 7.77% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 4.40% |
| Property tax rate | 0.63% | 0.52% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $16,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 1.79% |
| Avg commute (min) | 27 | 28 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $2,800 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $2,000 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $550 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 16.5 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.30 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 490 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 88 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 18 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 3 |