Urban Honolulu, HI vs St. Louis, MO
Moving from Urban Honolulu to St. Louis? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($851,163 → $276,878 median home) and taxes.
Urban Honolulu 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 Urban Honolulu, HI, you'd need about $85,236 in St. Louis, MO (−$14,764).
Livability — Urban Honolulu, HI: 48 · St. Louis, MO: 65 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 881 sqft in Urban Honolulu vs 3,161 sqft in St. Louis ($567 vs $158 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Urban Honolulu, HI | St. Louis, MO | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $35,760 | $17,412 | −$18,348 |
| Groceries | $5,517 | $4,934 | −$583 |
| Transportation | $3,900 | $3,390 | −$510 |
| Utilities | $5,040 | $1,512 | −$3,528 |
| Insurance | $1,100 | $2,400 | +$1,300 |
| Taxes | $14,943 | $10,488 | −$4,455 |
| Total | $66,260 | $40,136 | −$26,124 |
Side by side
| Metric | Urban Honolulu, HI | St. Louis, MO |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 111.4 | 95.0 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.79% | 4.35% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 2.0% | 0.3% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 31 | 55 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.34 | $5.40 |
| Median home price | $851,163 | $276,878 |
| Home price ÷ income | 8.5× | 3.7× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 0.6% | 2.9% |
| Price per square foot | $567 | $158 |
| Median rent | $2,980 | $1,451 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 14.1% | 9.3% |
| Combined sales tax | 4.50% | 8.38% |
| Capital gains tax | 11.00% | 4.80% |
| Property tax rate | 0.28% | 1.26% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,800 | $6,400 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $15,000 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 2.55% |
| Avg commute (min) | 27 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,100 | $2,400 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,400 | $1,800 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $800 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $550 | $400 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 46.6 | 14.0 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.70 | 3.00 |
| Violent crime /100k | 260 | 490 |
| Avg summer high °F | 85 | 89 |
| Avg winter low °F | 66 | 22 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 2 |