A $75,000 salary in Philadelphia requires about $59,868 in San Antonio to keep your real spending power flat. Housing leads the gap at -32.3% versus a composite -20.2% on the C2ER ACCRA cost-of-living index. Tax sits separately — see the state-tax sidebar.
If your goal is to land in San Antonio with the same consumer-spending power you have in Philadelphia, multiply your current salary by 0.798. That ratio is the C2ER ACCRA composite index of San Antonio divided by the composite of Philadelphia (91/114).
| Philadelphia salary | Equivalent in San Antonio | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $39,912 | -$10,088 |
| $75,000 | $59,868 | -$15,132 |
| $150,000 | $119,737 | -$30,263 |
Composite indexes hide the within-budget variance that often matters more than the headline. Housing in Philadelphia can be far above the city's composite, while groceries sit closer to par. The same is true for San Antonio. Compare the five categories below to see where your specific budget mix changes the picture.
| Category | Philadelphia | San Antonio | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing Rent + median home price | 127 | 86 | -32.3% |
| Groceries Supermarket basket | 102 | 90 | -11.8% |
| Transportation Fuel, transit, parking | 105 | 95 | -9.5% |
| Healthcare Doctor visits, prescriptions | 105 | 95 | -9.5% |
| Utilities Electric, gas, internet | 113 | 96 | -15.0% |
| Composite | 114 | 91 | -20.2% |
For someone weighing a move from Philadelphia, PA to San Antonio, TX, the cost-of-living comparison is the cleanest part of the analysis. San Antonio runs about 20% under Philadelphia on the composite C2ER ACCRA index, and that translates directly into salary-equivalence numbers you can use to evaluate offers: $75,000 of Philadelphia purchasing power equals roughly $59,868 in San Antonio terms.
What the index does not capture: lifestyle adjustments, neighborhood-level price variance within each metro, and tax differences between the two states. Pennsylvania and Texas can have meaningfully different state income tax burdens at the same salary level, and that gap is layered on top of the consumer-price gap rather than embedded in it. The sidebar on this page shows the state-tax delta at three salary anchors so you can stack the two effects and see the combined picture.
Income tax is a separate axis from the cost-of-living index, and Pennsylvania and Texas can disagree on it sharply. 3.07% versus 0.00% on the top-marginal or flat state rate translates to $2,303 versus $0 on a $75,000 salary, a $2,303 delta that stacks with the consumer-price story.
Run your actual salary and filing status through the take-home pay calculator for a precise after-tax number. The federal layer is the same in either metro; only the state piece shifts. See the take-home pay calculator or the state-by-state take-home pay article for the precise after-tax number.
No — San Antonio comes in about 20% cheaper on the composite (91 vs 114 for Philadelphia). Housing carries most of the gap, with smaller contributions from grocery, transport, and utility sub-indexes.
Approximately $59,868. The math: $75,000 times the index ratio 0.80 (which is 91/114) equals the salary in San Antonio that preserves your real-terms spending power. State tax sits on top — handled separately in the sidebar above.
Housing is the largest line item in any cost-of-living comparison and the one with the most metro-to-metro variance. Philadelphia's housing sub-index sits at 127; San Antonio's is 86. That gap reflects rent and home-price differences captured in the C2ER ACCRA quarterly survey. Groceries (Philadelphia 102 vs San Antonio 90), transportation (105 vs 95), and utilities (113 vs 96) all contribute, but housing is the dominant factor.
Not directly. Consumer-price indexes like C2ER ACCRA exclude state and federal income tax. To get the full picture for Pennsylvania versus Texas, combine the equivalent-salary number above with the state-tax delta in the sidebar; both effects compound when you cross state lines.