Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Tustin's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Tustin?
Your $100,000 in Tustin has the same purchasing power as $72,791 in the average US city. You'd need $27,209 more here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Tustin's cost index of 137, sorted by closest match.
Wondering whether you should move to Tustin? It depends on what you're optimizing for, but the city has real arguments in its favor: solidly above-average earnings and safer than the typical us city, plus 3 more things worth knowing. The data behind each is below.
Median household income in Tustin is $102,065, a step above the national median of about $75k. The local job market leans toward industries that pay better than average, and that shows up in the take-home for most working households here.
Tustin reports about 2,831 crime incidents per 100,000 residents — a step below the US average of around 3,500. The citywide number averages over neighborhoods that can vary a lot, but the headline number is friendlier than most American cities of comparable size.
Tustin earns a Walk Score of 58/100 — above the US median, with denser neighborhoods scoring higher than the citywide aggregate suggests. A car is still useful for longer trips, but everyday life works on foot for a lot of residents.
The average one-way commute in Tustin is about 24 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
46% of adults 25 and over in Tustin hold a bachelor's degree or higher — meaningfully above the US average of around 36%. That correlates with the things you'd expect: stronger schools, more white-collar employers, more bookstores than the population alone would predict.
Reasons are pulled from Tustin's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Now and then. Tustin's winters are cool rather than truly cold — about 37°F on average — so most of the precipitation falls as rain. A snowy morning happens a few times a season; sustained accumulation is rare.
Mild on the cold side. Tustin's winter average of about 37°F is the kind of weather where you want a jacket but the heating bill is manageable. Snow is rare, frost is occasional, and the lawn never really browns out.
Genuinely hot. Summer in Tustin averages about 103°F, and peak afternoons run well over a hundred. Outdoor plans move to mornings and evenings; AC is the most-used appliance in the house.
Tustin falls in roughly USDA Zone 9. The zone classification is based on average annual minimum temperatures, so it's the right lookup for whether perennials and trees will overwinter here. Note that this is approximate from our winter-temperature data — check the USDA map for the exact zone before betting an expensive plant on it.
Tustin sits at about 108 feet (33 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Average for an American city. Tustin's reported crime rate of about 2,831 per 100,000 residents sits roughly in line with the US baseline of ~3,500. Like anywhere else, the citywide number masks real differences between neighborhoods — worth looking at specific areas before deciding.
Yes — Tustin is one of the more expensive places to live in the US. The cost-of-living index is 137, about 37% above the national average. Housing is the dominant factor, and salaries here have to be high to compensate.
Somewhat. Tustin earns a Walk Score of 58/100 — many daily errands are doable on foot, especially in the denser neighborhoods, but a car still helps for longer trips. Transit Score is 35 out of 100.
Roughly $96,166 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Tustin runs about $2,205/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.