Maryland cost of living
Prices in Maryland run at 105.0 against a national average of 100, which makes it the 8th most expensive of the 51 jurisdictions. Housing is the part that separates states: rents there sit at 121.1.
Where the difference actually is
Prices in Maryland run at 105.0 where the national average is 100, so about 5 per cent above the country as a whole. It ranks #8 of 51 states.
Housing is doing nearly all of the work. Rents sit at 121.1 while goods sit at 102.5, a gap of 16.1 points between what it costs to live somewhere and what it costs to buy things. Someone who could reduce their housing cost here, by living further out or with fewer rooms, would remove most of the premium.
Comparing a job here against one elsewhere on the headline salary alone will mislead by roughly 5 per cent. Adjusting by the parity fixes that.
The vertical line is the national average of 100. Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, SARPP, 2024.
What it costs, in actual money
Parities are ratios. These are the figures behind them for Maryland, drawn from the other datasets on this site.
| Maryland | |
|---|---|
| Median home value | $397,700 |
| Median gross rent | $1,662 a month |
| Median household income | $101,652 |
| Average electricity bill | $206 a month |
| Effective property tax | 1.00% |
Metro areas in Maryland
Within a state, cities and rural areas diverge sharply. A statewide parity averages over that.
| Metro area | All items | Goods | Rents | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria | 108.9 | 104.8 | 151.1 | #15 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson | 104.5 | 102.4 | 118.2 | #33 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington | 102.6 | 96.8 | 113.1 | #50 |
| Lexington Park | 100.8 | 99.7 | 103.8 | #74 |
| Salisbury | 95.6 | 96.6 | 87.2 | #154 |
| Hagerstown-Martinsburg | 94.2 | 96.4 | 75.7 | #179 |
Maryland cost of living: common questions
Is Maryland expensive to live in?
Prices overall are 5% above the national average, at a parity of 105.0 where 100 is the country as a whole. It ranks #8 of 51. Goods run at 102.5, rents at 121.1 and other services at 110.9.
What is a salary in Maryland really worth?
The median wage there is $58,050. Adjusted for local prices that buys what $55,286 buys nationally. A state that pays well and costs more can leave a household no better off, and this is the arithmetic that shows it.
What is a regional price parity?
An official measure from the Bureau of Economic Analysis of what a dollar buys in one place against the national average, set at 100. It is built from the same price collection that underlies the consumer price index, extended to compare places rather than time periods. It is the only government measure of cost of living differences between states.
Why is housing treated separately?
Because it carries most of the difference. In Maryland rents sit 16.1 points above the state's overall parity. Goods barely vary between states, since most of them are shipped nationally; services vary more; housing varies enormously. Any cost of living comparison that does not separate housing is mostly measuring housing anyway.