Baltimore, MD
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Baltimore ranks 27th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 29th for income. A household earns $98,666 a year while median rent runs $1,633/mo, making it comfortably affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 4% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (1st of 300), while commute is the soft spot (278th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 244th and home prices 220th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
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.
On $75,000 for just you in Baltimore, your take-home is worth about $55,444 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
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.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 29th of 300↑18.6%$98,666
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 269th of 300104 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $94,429
- Per-capita income
- $52,346
- Full-time pay
- $57,595
Housing
- Median rent
- 244th of 300↑24.1%$1,633/mo
- Home value
- 220th of 300↑28.7%$403,000
- Property tax
- $3,927/yr · 1%
- Sales tax
- 6.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 138th of 3004.3%
- Bachelor's+
- 28th of 30045.3%
- Avg commute
- 278th of 30030.3 min
People
- Population
- 2,859,024
- Population change
- +2.1%
- Median age
- 39.5 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 12.2%
- Broadband
- 94.1%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 162nd of 30047
- Natural-hazard loss
- 1st of 300$6/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 99th of 30016.9%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 8%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Household income
- + Education
- + Hazard safety
- + Health
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
- – Rent
- – Home prices
- – Commute
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — maryland sci ctr.
What jobs pay in Baltimore
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $307,400
- IT managers
- $168,520
- Financial managers
- $157,990
- Software developers
- $138,900
- Pharmacists
- $138,110
- Lawyers
- $132,400
- General & operations managers
- $117,040
- Web developers
- $107,590
- Civil engineers
- $100,500
- Registered nurses
- $99,550
- Accountants & auditors
- $85,160
- Secondary school teachers
- $78,350
- Police officers
- $76,530
- Elementary school teachers
- $76,400
- Electricians
- $65,590
- Plumbers
- $63,200
- Carpenters
- $62,380
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $59,460
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $52,100
- Construction laborers
- $46,460
- Customer service reps
- $42,850
- Janitors
- $36,460
- Waiters & waitresses
- $36,170
- Retail salespersons
- $34,800
- Cashiers
- $33,760
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Baltimore metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Maryland are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Virginia8,070
- Pennsylvania6,851
- New York4,722
- Florida4,450
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Baltimore
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Baltimore metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Baltimore metro?
- Median gross rent across the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area is $1,633 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Baltimore.
- What is the median household income in the Baltimore metro?
- A typical household in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area earns $98,666 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Baltimore expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area runs about 4% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Baltimore metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $94,429 (versus its face value of $98,666). CityLedger rates the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area comfortably affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Baltimore metro?
- The median home value across the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area is $403,000 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Baltimore metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area is 4.3% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).