Portland vs San Diego Cost of Living (transplants, rent)

[SiddharthaGautama]

I currently live in San Diego and am thinking of possibly moving to Portland. There are pros and cons to living in SD just like any other place. The weather here is unbeatable. But its overcrowded and has a really bad job market. Even though I know every place is struggling right now. But the cost of living from groceries, gas, and rent are really high. At this point in time I don't think its a smart place to live.

Can anyone who has lived in both places give me a comparison of cost of living with Portland vs San Diego? I assume Portland has to be cheaper but is it much?

[Minervah]

Check out this website. You can compare your city with any other. Keep in mind that in Portland, salaries tend to be lower than many other cities. If you can find a job which is very difficult. I don't find things are cheaper here because of it.

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed

[subsound]

It's cheaper in Portland offhand, not sure by how much. Depends if it is a wash with the lower salaries. I found car insurance to be really pretty cheap in comparison to even cheaper cost of living Midwest cities (Colorado) as well. CA is a nightmare form what I have been reading in the news, even if it's the same unemployment and expectations...it might be good to get to a state with lower costs just to survive longer on the savings you have. A good plus too is the state government is not bankrupt, and the housing market is supposedly better then average (from MSN this morning).

[Todd.LA]

I live in LA, which is somewhat similar to SD as far as CoL goes, and I'm from Portland. I've actually found that groceries are a bit cheaper down here than in Portland, since CA is where most of the nation's produce is grown, especially during the winter months. I also spend less on utilities here than I did in Portland, because I hardly have to run my heater here in the winter, and I'm close enough to the ocean that the summers aren't so hot that I really have to run the AC. Portland does have cheaper electricity rates, but you'll use more energy to heat your home in the winters.

In general, though, you will find Portland to be a lot cheaper, especially when it comes to housing, but also car insurance and gas. If you live in central Portland, you can really save on gas, since many of the core neighborhoods are very walkable, so you don't have to drive to get groceries, coffee, dinner at a restaurant (if you can afford it in these times!), or a pint of beer. Compared to the other big cities on the West Coast, Portland is still probably the cheapest, but as everyone on this forum will tell you, getting a job there is really hard and the salaries tend to reflect the lower cost of living.

You should also make sure that you can handle a lot of grey days. I'm a native Oregonian, so I never really minded it much, but a lot of transplants have issues with the lack of sunny days in the winter.