Urban Honolulu, HI vs New York, NY
Moving from Urban Honolulu to New York? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($851,163 → $727,625 median home) and taxes.
Urban Honolulu vs New York 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 Urban Honolulu, HI, you'd need about $101,096 in New York, NY (+$1,096).
Livability — Urban Honolulu, HI: 48 · New York, NY: 44 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 881 sqft in Urban Honolulu vs 1,099 sqft in New York ($567 vs $455 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Urban Honolulu, HI | New York, NY | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $35,760 | $42,036 | +$6,276 |
| Groceries | $5,517 | $5,415 | −$103 |
| Transportation | $3,900 | $3,895 | −$5 |
| Utilities | $5,040 | $3,180 | −$1,860 |
| Insurance | $1,100 | $1,600 | +$500 |
| Taxes | $14,943 | $23,496 | +$8,553 |
| Total | $66,260 | $79,622 | +$13,361 |
Side by side
| Metric | Urban Honolulu, HI | New York, NY |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 111.4 | 112.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.79% | 6.55% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 2.0% | -1.4% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 31 | 52 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.34 | $6.41 |
| Median home price | $851,163 | $727,625 |
| Home price ÷ income | 8.5× | 7.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 0.6% | 4.1% |
| Price per square foot | $567 | $455 |
| Median rent | $2,980 | $3,503 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 14.1% | 15.9% |
| Combined sales tax | 4.50% | 8.52% |
| Capital gains tax | 11.00% | 10.90% |
| Property tax rate | 0.28% | 1.74% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,800 | $7,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $15,000 | $17,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 27 | 36 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,100 | $1,600 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,400 | $2,100 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $800 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $550 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 46.6 | 29.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.70 | 3.45 |
| Violent crime /100k | 260 | 350 |
| Avg summer high °F | 85 | 83 |
| Avg winter low °F | 66 | 16 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 5 |