COMPARE COST OF LIVING
Honolulu County, HI→San Mateo County, CA
This estimate matches your purchasing power (equivalent salary) when moving from Honolulu County, HI to San Mateo County, CA.
* Living index is estimated from (estimated total cost / median_income of area) * 100.A living index above 100% means costs exceed median income.
Cost of Living Breakdown by Category
Summary/TLDR:
Moving from Honolulu County, HI to San Mateo County, CA can actually lead to higher overall expenses. You would end up spending an estimated 34.34% ($22,349) more per year. Unless your move comes with a significant salary jump, this new location will feel much tighter in day-to-day spending. Moving can lead to some savings in Food According to the Economic Policy Institute’s 2025 Family Budget data, Honolulu County, HI's Food costs are 2.53% higher ($5,370 vs. $5,234), driving a large part of the cost difference. Movers could potentially save $136 in annual expenses. Housing, Transport, Healthcare, Other Costs and Taxes costs for San Mateo County, CA , however, rise slightly.
Since Food is one of the biggest drivers of living costs, this gap alone can noticeably change how the move feels month to month. Families and people who eat out often will notice this difference in their weekly grocery and restaurant spending.
Below we break down the key differences driving this gap.
What changed the most?
The following numbers represent which categories have the highest and lowest cost increase when moving to San Mateo County, CA.
$20,016 per year
HOUSING costs are highest in San Mateo County, CA.
$5,234 per year
FOOD costs are lowest in San Mateo County, CA.
Breakdown of price percentages per category.
Numbers are average costs per section.
| Category | Difference | |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | 52.92% higher | |
| Food | -2.53% lower | |
| Transport | 11.54% higher | |
| Healthcare | 29.73% higher | |
| Other Costs | 41.19% higher | |
| Taxes | 40.37% higher |
In your new location your total average costs would be $87429.00 compared to your previous average costs of $65080.00.
The higher price could be attributed to different factors. For example, larger differences, the delta could be attributed to the fact that a city is a metropolitan location.
In this case San Mateo County, CA and Honolulu County, HI are both metropolitan locations.
Use our map to visually compare multiple counties at once.
