Skip to content
Cost & Benefits

Compare / San Jose to Syracuse

San Jose, CA vs Syracuse, NY

Simple answer

You'd likely save $1,779 a month in Syracuse.

This is the HUD 2-bedroom fair-market rent for October 2026 through September 2027. It is not your lease.

The largest cost gap in this pair is housing prices. The BEA housing price parity differs by 131.2 points (San Jose 211.9, Syracuse 80.7).

California taxes wages at rates up to 13.30%. New York taxes wages at rates up to 10.90%. Combined sales tax differs by 0.4 percentage points, higher in California. The effective property tax gap is 0.75 percentage points, higher in New York.

After a move from California to New York, those two example households keep the same benefit status labels. A different income can still split Medicaid and marketplace credits.

A $75,000 salary in San Jose lines up with about $65,029 in Syracuse on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

San Jose

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$3,272
HUD area
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$2,827
All-items price parity
110.4
Goods price parity
105.2
Utilities price parity
156.7
Mean commute
27.5 min
Median household income
$164,801

Syracuse

Syracuse, NY

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,493
HUD area
Syracuse, NY MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,114
All-items price parity
95.7
Goods price parity
99.7
Utilities price parity
133.4
Mean commute
21.7 min
Median household income
$76,313

Equivalent salary

The first number keeps the same place in the national price level. The second also runs 2026 federal income tax, employee Social Security and Medicare, and a simplified state income tax. Groceries use the BEA goods price parity, not a grocery receipt.

Same buying power

$65,029

Salary in Syracuse that matches the 2024 all-items regional price parity.

After state and federal tax

$65,725

Gross salary in Syracuse whose after-tax pay buys the same basket, using price parities.

Rent only

$34,222

Scales the salary by the ratio of HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rents. Rent is not the whole budget.

Taxes on the two sides of the move

TaxCaliforniaNew York
State income tax on wagesup to 13.30%up to 10.90%
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20269.0%8.5%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.71%1.45%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $2,828 a year in California and $5,818 in New York. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in New York

Same household, $40,000 a year, scored once in California and once in New York. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    San JoseLikely eligible

    SyracuseLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    San JoseLikely eligible

    SyracuseLikely eligible

  • WIC

    San JoseLikely eligible

    SyracuseLikely eligible

  • School meals

    San JoseLikely eligible

    SyracuseLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    San JoseMaybe

    SyracuseMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    San JoseLikely eligible

    SyracuseLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    San JoseLikely eligible

    SyracuseLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    San JoseUnlikely

    SyracuseUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    San JoseLikely eligible

    SyracuseLikely eligible

  • SSI

    San JoseUnlikely

    SyracuseUnlikely

At $40,000 the status labels match. A single adult around $18,000 is where Medicaid expansion and the marketplace coverage gap usually split.

Medicaid guide for New York · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

How the salary and tax math works · The reverse city order redirects to this address.