2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Hilo, HI vs Santee, CA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Santee or is it cheaper to live in Hilo?
- Santee is 17.4% more expensive than Hilo.

Which city has more affordable housing, Santee or Hilo?
- Santee housing costs are 72.9% more expensive than Hilo housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Hilo or is Health Care more affordable in Santee.
- Health related expenses are 10.7% less in Santee.
 Hilo, HISantee, CAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock154.9100
 Food & Groceries152.2  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock89.0100
 Housing135.3  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$671,700$338,100
 Utilities194  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock123.5100
 Miscellaneous108.3  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Hilo    10 Reviews

If you’re looking at Hilo, then you’re likely being recruited in the medical or education fields. These are where the greatest needs of the community lie, and there are  More

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Over 4 years ago

I enjoyed living in Hawaii County for a number of years, most in Hilo. While Hilo has problems, they are few compared to mainland USA. I never experienced racism by  More

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Over 4 years ago

Too much racism from "native Hawaiians" who aren't actually natives. That keeps me from living in that paradise. I'm this is the "natives" goal.  More

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Reviews for Santee    10 Reviews

Over 13 years ago

I have lived in Santee for 36 years and the changes have been extensive. Traffic has been, and still is, a big problem. However, that's a problem in most CA towns and  More

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Over 13 years ago

San Diego in general is a very expensive place to live. Santee is less so but compared to the rest of the country we are way over  More

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Over 17 years ago

Santee has a great quality of life,low crime, good schools(some of the best schools east county has to offer), fairly short commute time, as it is fairly well central in  More

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