San Luis Obispo composite
38.9 /100
Grade F · weighted across 7 dims
2026 data Public-data reference. 11 dimensions compared
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA vs Wildwood-The Villages, FL
Side-by-side comparison across cost of living, rent, wages, crime, schools, childcare, and environment — sourced entirely from U.S. federal data, no crowdsourced estimates.
San Luis Obispo vs Wildwood: composite livability scores
San Luis Obispo and Wildwood differ across eleven dimensions of livability. San Luis Obispo has a cost-of-living index of 108.6 vs Wildwood's 85.4 (national average = 100). A 2-bedroom averages $2,512/mo vs $1,328/mo.
Reading the San Luis Obispo vs Wildwood Comparison
San Luis Obispo (CA) and Wildwood (FL) are assembled here from the same federal data pipeline — BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, FBI Uniform Crime Reports, NCES public-school counts, and EPA environmental indicators — so every number on this page is directly comparable. The overall cost index reads 108.6 for San Luis Obispo against 85.4 for Wildwood, a 23.2-point gap on a scale where 100 equals the U.S. average. HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent — the figure used to set housing-choice voucher payment standards — is $2,512/mo in San Luis Obispo and $1,328/mo in Wildwood, a $1,184/mo difference that compounds to $14,208 over a year.
Wage data is reported by metro delineation, and one of these metros is missing a BLS record for the latest OES cycle; the salary columns below fall back to available years. State-level violent crime, the most reliable geographic tier FBI UCR publishes, is 476.8 per 100,000 residents in CA vs 210.3 in FL, with property-crime rates of 1985.9 and 1030.0 respectively.
Schools are reported at the state tier by NCES: CA lists 10,006 public schools at a 21.6:1 student-teacher ratio, while FL lists 4,029 schools at 18.3:1 — a signal of class-size staffing, though individual district and school-level variation within each state is substantial. Department of Labor center-based infant care runs $17,920/yr in the San Luis Obispo area versus $10,505/yr in Wildwood — a line item that shifts the real cost-of-living picture for households with children under five far more than headline RPP does. When these pieces are read together rather than in isolation, San Luis Obispo and Wildwood are not simply "cheaper" or "more expensive" — they trade across dimensions, and which metro wins depends on whether your household optimizes for rent, wages, schools, childcare, safety, or environment. Treat the tables below as inputs to that trade-off, not as a single ranking.
Wildwood composite
71.6 /100
Grade B- · weighted across 7 dims
Cost-of-living gap
23.2 pts
San Luis Obispo vs Wildwood BEA RPP
2-bed rent delta
$1,184 /mo
San Luis Obispo priced higher
Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo composite (Grade F)
Wildwood
Wildwood composite (Grade B-)
Composite is a weighted roll-up of seven dimensions: cost (20%), wages (20%), rent (15%), safety (15%), schools (10%), childcare (10%), environment (10%). Each input normalized to a 0–100 percentile across all metros.
💰 Cost of Living PlainCost →
| Category | San Luis Obispo | Wildwood |
|---|---|---|
| Overall RPP | 108.6 | 85.4 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 96.2 |
| Services | 147.8 | 89.0 |
| Rents | 144.4 | 51.7 |
Salary Equivalent Calculator
What salary in Wildwood gives the same purchasing power as your salary in San Luis Obispo?
$
Equivalent in Wildwood:
$78,662
Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (San Luis Obispo: 108.6, Wildwood: 85.4, national avg = 100).
🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) PlainRent →
| Bedrooms | San Luis Obispo | Wildwood |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $1,732/mo | $1,076/mo |
| 1 Bedroom | $1,914/mo | $1,139/mo |
| 2 Bedroom | $2,512/mo | $1,328/mo |
| 3 Bedroom | $3,370/mo | $1,655/mo |
| 4 Bedroom | $3,861/mo | $1,937/mo |
🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) PlainCrime →
| Crime Type (per 100K) | San Luis Obispo (CA) | Wildwood (FL) |
|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime | 476.8 | 210.3 |
| Property Crime | 1985.9 | 1030.0 |
🎓 Schools (state-level) PlainSchools →
| Metric | CA | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Total Schools | 10,006 | 4,029 |
| Student-Teacher Ratio | 21.6:1 | 18.3:1 |
| Charter Schools | 12.8% | 17.9% |
👶 Childcare Costs (Annual Avg) (state-level) PlainChildcare →
| Age Group | CA | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Infant (Center) | $17,920/yr | $10,505/yr |
| Toddler (Center) | $12,300/yr | $8,611/yr |
| Preschool (Center) | $11,385/yr | $7,983/yr |
🌿 Environment (state-level) PlainEnviro →
| Metric | CA | FL |
|---|---|---|
| EPA Facilities | 1,426 | 864 |
| Water Systems | 3,077 | 1,516 |
| Superfund Sites | 116 | 81 |
| Water Violations | 17,550 | 2,676 |
Government-verified data — Air quality (EPA AQS), water safety (EPA SDWIS), healthcare access (HRSA), and disaster risk (FEMA NRI) are sourced directly from U.S. federal agencies. No crowdsourced estimates.
💨 Air Quality (EPA AQS) PlainAir →
| Metric | San Luis Obispo | Wildwood |
|---|---|---|
| Median AQI | 49.0 | 41.0 |
| Good Air Days | 52.7% | 76.6% |
| Unhealthy Air Days | 10 days | N/A |
Wildwood air quality shown at state level. San Luis Obispo has metro-level data.
💧 Water Safety (EPA SDWIS, state-level) PlainWater →
| Metric | CA | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Water Safety Score | 14/100 | 9/100 |
| Total Violations | 153,308 | 184,355 |
| Health-Based Violations | 63,983 | 24,266 |
| Systems with Violations | 89.2% | 93.2% |
🏥 Healthcare Access (HRSA, state-level) PlainHealthAccess →
| Metric | CA | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Access Score | 0/100 | 0/100 |
| Population in Shortage Area | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| HPSA Designations | 1,574 | 612 |
HPSA = Health Professional Shortage Area, designated by HRSA. Higher access score = better healthcare availability.
⚠️ Natural Disaster Risk (FEMA NRI, state-level) PlainHazard →
| Metric | CA | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Disaster Safety Score | 12/100 | 29/100 |
| NRI Risk Score (avg county) | 88.7 | 75.7 |
| Expected Annual Loss Score | 87.9 | 72.9 |
FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) scores are county-level percentiles (0–100). Higher disaster safety score = lower relative risk. State-level values are county averages.
Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level. Metro-specific data for these dimensions is not available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is San Luis Obispo more expensive than Wildwood? ▼
San Luis Obispo has a cost of living index of 108.6 compared to Wildwood's 85.4 (national average = 100). San Luis Obispo is 23.2 points above Wildwood on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between San Luis Obispo and Wildwood? ▼
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $2,512/mo in San Luis Obispo vs $1,328/mo in Wildwood, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $1,732/mo to $1,076/mo.
How do salaries compare between San Luis Obispo and Wildwood? ▼
Wage data is not available for one or both metros.
Is San Luis Obispo or Wildwood safer? ▼
At the state level, CA has a violent crime rate of 476.8 per 100,000 residents compared to FL's 210.3 per 100,000. Property crime rates are 1985.9 vs 1030.0 per 100,000 respectively, based on FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
How do schools compare between San Luis Obispo and Wildwood? ▼
CA has 10,006 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 21.6:1, while FL has 4,029 schools at 18.3:1. Charter schools make up 12.8% of CA schools vs 17.9% in FL. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Where does the comparison data come from? ▼
All data comes from official U.S. government sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis (cost of living), HUD (fair market rents), BLS (wages), FBI UCR (crime), NCES (schools), Department of Labor (childcare), EPA (environment, air quality, water safety), HRSA (healthcare access), and FEMA NRI (disaster risk). No crowdsourced estimates or proprietary ratings are used.
Research Guides
Explore Further
San Luis Obispo Cost of Living
BEA Regional Price Parity breakdown
Wildwood Cost of Living
BEA Regional Price Parity breakdown
San Luis Obispo Rent Data
HUD Fair Market Rents by bedroom
Wildwood Rent Data
HUD Fair Market Rents by bedroom
San Luis Obispo Schools
NCES school profiles and demographics
Wildwood Schools
NCES school profiles and demographics
CA Crime Data
FBI UCR crime statistics
FL Crime Data
FBI UCR crime statistics
Relocate San Luis Obispo to Wildwood
7-dimension relocation intelligence
Relocate Wildwood to San Luis Obispo
7-dimension relocation intelligence
Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, EPA AQS, EPA SDWIS, HRSA, and FEMA NRI. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.
Related
Data sourced from official U.S. government datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial