2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Santa Cruz, CA vs South Lake Tahoe, CA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in South Lake Tahoe or is it cheaper to live in Santa Cruz?
- South Lake Tahoe is 22.7% less expensive than Santa Cruz.

Which city has more affordable housing, South Lake Tahoe or Santa Cruz?
- South Lake Tahoe housing costs are 49.7% less expensive than Santa Cruz housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Santa Cruz or is Health Care more affordable in South Lake Tahoe.
- Health related expenses are 18.1% more in South Lake Tahoe.
 Santa Cruz, CASouth Lake Tahoe, CAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock143.7100
 Food & Groceries111.5  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock129.0100
 Housing420.7  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$657,600$338,100
 Utilities94  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock102.6100
 Miscellaneous155.7  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Santa Cruz    44 Reviews

I lived in the Santa Cruz area for 20 years. UCSC alum. Our kids were born there. There are wonderful things about Santa Cruz, but also many serious problems that we  More

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Over 5 years ago

I have been here for four generations! My kids are the fifth. I guess that should tell you how wonderful it is here, at least for us. It's so cool to have world class  More

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I was born over the hill in San Jose area, and as a kid I loved coming over to the boardwalk. Santa Cruz has always been and always will be a town of diversity,  More

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Reviews for South Lake Tahoe    10 Reviews

Over 5 years ago

Pretty boring town. Very run down and seedy too. Lake is nothing special either. I much prefer the Pacific coast or even the Atlantic coast or great  More

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Seriously I don't get what the big deal about this dump is everything is grossly overpriced scenery is boring and not at all interesting very boring nothing to do very  More

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Over 5 years ago

Beautiful place to live. This site has most of the details wrong, has somehow lumped it together with Sacramento. Elevation is 6250 feet at the lake. Weather is cold in  More

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