Is Santa Fe cheaper than Sebastian?

They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Santa Fe and Sebastian metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.

Which has higher household income, Santa Fe or Sebastian?

Santa Fe has the higher median household income — $88,719 versus $79,849 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 11% more.

Does a paycheck go further in Santa Fe or Sebastian?

A paycheck stretches further in Santa Fe. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $89,827 there versus $81,223 in Sebastian.

Which has cheaper rent, Santa Fe or Sebastian?

Sebastian has cheaper rent — a median of $1,509/mo versus $1,586/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).

Santa Fe vs Sebastian

Metro-area medians — Santa Fe, NM Metro Area vs Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL Metro Area — not the cities proper.

Santa Fe and Sebastian are evenly matched, each taking 4 of the clearly-decided measures.

Santa Fe and Sebastian cost about the same to live in, but Santa Fe households earn about 11% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Santa Fe.

Their widest everyday difference: Santa Fe is more educated — 49.4% of adults hold a bachelor's degree versus 38.2%.

For your salary & household

Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.

Annual salary (gross)

Household size

Santa Fe, NM

$58,938

take-home / yr · 21% to tax

$59,674

real value after local prices

Sebastian, FL

$61,314

take-home / yr · 18% to tax

$62,369

real value after local prices

On $75,000 for just you, Sebastian leaves you about $2,695/yr better off after tax and local prices.

Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.

Measure

Santa Fe

Sebastian

Livability (CityLedger)

75/100

62/100

Cost of living (price level, US = 100)

98.8

98.3

Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)

$89,827

$81,223

Median household income

$88,719

$79,849

Median rent

$1,586/mo

$1,509/mo

Median home value

$473,800

$399,800

Unemployment

3.5%

3.1%

Bachelor's degree or higher

49.4%

38.2%

Average commute

25.5 min

26.1 min

Air quality (median AQI)

Avg temperature

52°F

74°F

Choose Santa Fe for

+ Livability (CityLedger)
+ Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
+ Median household income
+ Bachelor's degree or higher

Full Santa Fe profile →

Choose Sebastian for

+ Median rent
+ Median home value
+ Unemployment
+ Air quality (median AQI)

Full Sebastian profile →

More comparisons

Metros closest to Santa Fe and Sebastian on cost, income, size, and education.

Santa Fe vs Barnstable Town→Santa Fe vs Hilton Head Island→Santa Fe vs Kingston→Sebastian vs Prescott Valley→Sebastian vs Punta Gorda→Sebastian vs Barnstable Town→

Santa Fe vs Sebastian — frequently asked

Is Santa Fe cheaper than Sebastian?: They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Santa Fe and Sebastian metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.
Which has higher household income, Santa Fe or Sebastian?: Santa Fe has the higher median household income — $88,719 versus $79,849 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 11% more.
Does a paycheck go further in Santa Fe or Sebastian?: A paycheck stretches further in Santa Fe. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $89,827 there versus $81,223 in Sebastian.
Which has cheaper rent, Santa Fe or Sebastian?: Sebastian has cheaper rent — a median of $1,509/mo versus $1,586/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).