Urban Honolulu, HI vs Providence, RI
Moving from Urban Honolulu to Providence? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($851,163 → $524,867 median home) and taxes.
Urban Honolulu vs Providence 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 $91,103 in Providence, RI (−$8,897).
Livability — Urban Honolulu, HI: 48 · Providence, RI: 58 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 881 sqft in Urban Honolulu vs 1,524 sqft in Providence ($567 vs $328 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Urban Honolulu, HI | Providence, RI | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $35,760 | $25,956 | −$9,804 |
| Groceries | $5,517 | $4,922 | −$596 |
| Transportation | $3,900 | $3,875 | −$25 |
| Utilities | $5,040 | $3,060 | −$1,980 |
| Insurance | $1,100 | $1,700 | +$600 |
| Taxes | $14,943 | $13,121 | −$1,822 |
| Total | $66,260 | $52,634 | −$13,627 |
Side by side
| Metric | Urban Honolulu, HI | Providence, RI |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 111.4 | 101.5 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.79% | 5.82% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 2.0% | 3.6% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 31 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.34 | $5.78 |
| Median home price | $851,163 | $524,867 |
| Home price ÷ income | 8.5× | 6.5× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 0.6% | 3.1% |
| Price per square foot | $567 | $328 |
| Median rent | $2,980 | $2,163 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 14.1% | 11.4% |
| Combined sales tax | 4.50% | 7.00% |
| Capital gains tax | 11.00% | 5.99% |
| Property tax rate | 0.28% | 1.31% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,800 | $7,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $15,000 | $13,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 27 | 26 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,100 | $1,700 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,400 | $2,100 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $800 | $900 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $550 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 46.6 | 28.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.70 | 3.35 |
| Violent crime /100k | 260 | 240 |
| Avg summer high °F | 85 | 82 |
| Avg winter low °F | 66 | 21 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 4 |