($1,634) Movers From Ann Arbor, MI to San Diego, CA

What to know before moving from Ann Arbor to San Diego

Moving from Ann Arbor to San Diego comes with exciting new opportunities — but also higher living costs. Since San Diego is generally more expensive than Ann Arbor, it’s important to plan ahead and budget carefully for the change.

Check out how the two cities compare so you know what to expect before you relocate:

• Rent prices in San Diego are 28% higher than in Ann Arbor, which means you’ll have less money in your pocket each month.
• In terms of homeownership, you’ll be able to get more for your money in Ann Arbor.
  Home prices in San Diego are 111.3% higher than in Ann Arbor.
• Income in San Diego is 9.0% higher than in Ann Arbor, so you could earn more for doing the same job. The top employers in San Diego include United States Navy, University of California, San Diego, and Sharp HealthCare.
• Be sure to budget for higher bills in San Diego, since the cost of living for a single person in San Diego is 53.8% higher than in Ann Arbor. This includes routine expenses like utilities, groceries, clothing, and transportation.
• If you’re moving your family to San Diego, keep in mind that your living expenses could increase. The cost of living for a family in San Diego is 44.4% higher than in Ann Arbor.
• The unemployment rate in San Diego is 88.57% higher than in Ann Arbor.
• You’ll spend more on retail and restaurants in San Diego, since the city’s sales taxes in San Diego are 29.17% higher than in Ann Arbor.
• State income taxes in San Diego are 212.94% higher than in Ann Arbor.

To put this in perspective, you would need around $4,613.05 in San Diego to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with $3,000.00 in Ann Arbor.

How life is different in Ann Arbor vs. San Diego

• The population of San Diego is about 1,020% greater than Ann Arbor, so you may find more to see and do in your new surroundings. Of course, with more people can also come increased competition for jobs and housing.
• Getting around San Diego without a car might be more difficult than in Ann Arbor. San Diego has a public transportation score of 6 out of 10, whereas Ann Arbor is ranked 7. Ratings are based on a city’s transit connectivity, service frequency, and accessibility to key destinations like jobs and grocery stores.
• You’ll find San Diego to be about as walkable as Ann Arbor. The two cities have similar walkability scores of 53 and 52 respectively out of 100 in terms of how close housing is to businesses, recreational facilities, and jobs.
• You probably won’t see as many cycling lanes or off-road trails in San Diego, which is ranked as less bike-friendly than Ann Arbor. While Ann Arbor has a bike-friendliness score of 71 out of 100, San Diego earned a 43. Scores are based on factors like whether a city accommodates cyclists on major roadways, how often people bike to work, and how many steep hills it has.
• The crime rate in San Diego is higher than in Ann Arbor, so you may want to exercise a little extra caution as you're acclimating to your new location. While the crime index is 39.83 in San Diego, it is 31.0 in Ann Arbor. With this index, the lower the score, the better, since it indicates a city’s crime levels.
• You may want to exercise more caution as you’re getting used to your new surroundings in San Diego. With a crime index of 60.17, San Diego ranks lower in overall safety than Ann Arbor, whose index is Ann Arbor's 79.18. The safety index measures how safe people in a city feel about walking alone, both during the day and at night, as well as data on muggings, theft, vandalism, and other instances of petty crime.
• The air quality in San Diego and Ann Arbor is generally the same (Moderate). Cities with good to moderate ratings have clean or acceptable air quality, with the possibility of small pollutants affecting people with certain health conditions like asthma. Anything beyond the moderate rate means increased impact on residents.