COMPARE COST OF LIVING
Queens County, NY→San Mateo County, CA
This estimate matches your purchasing power (equivalent salary) when moving from Queens County, NY 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:
If you were to move to San Mateo County, CA from Queens County, NY would be, though moderately, more expensive overall. You would spend an estimated additional $7,500 per year (a 9.38% increase). To keep the same lifestyle, you’d likely want your income to be at least 9.38% higher in this new location. Moving can lead to some savings in Healthcare According to the Economic Policy Institute’s 2025 Family Budget data, Queens County, NY's Healthcare costs are 15.96% higher ($8,350 vs. $7,017), driving a large part of the cost difference. Movers could potentially save $1,333 in annual expenses. Housing, Food, Transport, Other Costs and Taxes costs for San Mateo County, CA , however, rise slightly.
Since Healthcare is one of the biggest drivers of living costs, this gap alone can noticeably change how the move feels month to month. If you have ongoing medical needs or dependents, this difference can be especially important over time.
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.
$8,685 per year
TRANSPORT costs are highest in San Mateo County, CA.
$7,017 per year
HEALTHCARE costs are lowest in San Mateo County, CA.
Breakdown of price percentages per category.
Numbers are average costs per section.
| Category | Difference | |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | 1.47% higher | |
| Food | 14.28% higher | |
| Transport | 61.59% higher | |
| Healthcare | -15.96% lower | |
| Other Costs | 3.16% higher | |
| Taxes | 12.26% higher |
In your new location your total average costs would be $87429.00 compared to your previous average costs of $79929.00.
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 Queens County, NY are both metropolitan locations.
Use our map to visually compare multiple counties at once.
