Tulsa, OK vs San Jose, CA
Moving from Tulsa to San Jose? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($253,725 → $1,610,466 median home) and taxes.
Tulsa vs San Jose 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 Tulsa, OK, you'd need about $125,768 in San Jose, CA (+$25,768).
Livability — Tulsa, OK: 71 · San Jose, CA: 32 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 3,745 sqft in Tulsa vs 466 sqft in San Jose ($134 vs $1074 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Tulsa, OK | San Jose, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $16,224 | $43,500 | +$27,276 |
| Groceries | $4,667 | $5,247 | +$580 |
| Transportation | $3,575 | $5,125 | +$1,550 |
| Utilities | $1,440 | $3,804 | +$2,364 |
| Insurance | $4,400 | $1,500 | −$2,900 |
| Taxes | $9,670 | $25,449 | +$15,780 |
| Total | $39,976 | $84,625 | +$44,649 |
Side by side
| Metric | Tulsa, OK | San Jose, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 89.9 | 113.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.14% | 4.50% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 4.1% | 0.6% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.12 | $6.43 |
| Median home price | $253,725 | $1,610,466 |
| Home price ÷ income | 3.9× | 10.6× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 2.8% | -1.4% |
| Price per square foot | $134 | $1074 |
| Median rent | $1,352 | $3,625 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.0% | 13.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.99% | 8.82% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.75% | 13.30% |
| Property tax rate | 0.94% | 0.71% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,300 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,000 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 22 | 28 |
| Home insurance / yr | $4,400 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,000 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $300 | $950 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 13.3 | 35.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 2.95 | 4.85 |
| Natural gas / mo | $56 | $72 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $83 | $138 |
| Home internet / mo | $76 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 460 | 500 |
| Avg summer high °F | 94 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 27 | 45 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 41.0 | 13.5 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 8.7 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 62% | 68% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 5 |