Pensacola, FL
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Pensacola ranks 196th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 166th for income. A household earns $74,248 a year while median rent runs $1,481/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 2% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is health (152nd of 300), while hazard safety is the soft spot (254th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 206th and home prices 158th 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 Pensacola, your take-home is worth about $62,746 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further 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
- 166th of 300↑31.4%$74,248
- 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.
- 190th of 30098 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $75,983
- Per-capita income
- $39,271
- Full-time pay
- $40,546
Housing
- Median rent
- 206th of 300↑42.4%$1,481/mo
- Home value
- 158th of 300↑65.1%$314,100
- Property tax
- $1,800/yr · 0.6%
- Sales tax
- 6.95%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 230th of 3005.3%
- Bachelor's+
- 192nd of 30030.9%
- Avg commute
- 218th of 30026.3 min
People
- Population
- 538,928
- Population change
- +7.2%
- Median age
- 39.1 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 5.4%
- Broadband
- 94.6%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 153rd of 30046
- Natural-hazard loss
- 254th of 300$27/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 152nd of 30018.5%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 12.1%
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
- —
Watch-outs
- – Rent
- – Job market
- – Commute
- – Hazard safety
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — pensacola rgnl ap.
What jobs pay in Pensacola
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $258,640
- IT managers
- $150,160
- Pharmacists
- $132,560
- Financial managers
- $127,340
- Lawyers
- $126,790
- Software developers
- $108,430
- General & operations managers
- $97,350
- Civil engineers
- $93,980
- Registered nurses
- $77,890
- Accountants & auditors
- $76,410
- Web developers
- $68,850
- Secondary school teachers
- $57,550
- Police officers
- $56,720
- Electricians
- $50,510
- Elementary school teachers
- $50,360
- Plumbers
- $49,670
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $47,950
- Carpenters
- $47,920
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $45,190
- Customer service reps
- $43,290
- Construction laborers
- $43,050
- Waiters & waitresses
- $35,340
- Janitors
- $32,010
- Retail salespersons
- $31,870
- Cashiers
- $29,910
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 Pensacola metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Florida are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Alabama2,933
- Texas2,550
- Virginia2,518
- California2,425
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Pensacola
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Pensacola metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Pensacola metro?
- Median gross rent across the Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL Metro Area is $1,481 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Pensacola.
- What is the median household income in the Pensacola metro?
- A typical household in the Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL Metro Area earns $74,248 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Pensacola expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL Metro Area runs about 2% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Pensacola metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $75,983 (versus its face value of $74,248). CityLedger rates the Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Pensacola metro?
- The median home value across the Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL Metro Area is $314,100 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Pensacola metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL Metro Area is 5.3% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).