Albany vs Portland
Metro-area medians — Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metro Area vs Portland-South Portland, ME Metro Area — not the cities proper.
Portland comes out ahead, winning 5 of the 9 clearly-decided measures.
Albany and Portland cost about the same to live in, but Portland households earn about 7% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Portland.
Their widest everyday difference: Portland has the tighter job market — 2.8% unemployment versus 3.5%.
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, Albany leaves you about $1,577/yr better off after tax and local prices.
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.
Choose Albany for
- + Median rent
- + Median home value
- + Average commute
- + Air quality (median AQI)
Choose Portland for
- + Livability (CityLedger)
- + Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
- + Median household income
- + Unemployment
- + Bachelor's degree or higher
More comparisons
Metros closest to Albany and Portland on cost, income, size, and education.
Albany vs Portland — frequently asked
- Is Albany cheaper than Portland?
- They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Albany and Portland metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.
- Which has higher household income, Albany or Portland?
- Portland has the higher median household income — $93,062 versus $86,637 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 7% more.
- Does a paycheck go further in Albany or Portland?
- A paycheck stretches further in Portland. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $91,364 there versus $87,015 in Albany.
- Which has cheaper rent, Albany or Portland?
- Albany has cheaper rent — a median of $1,341/mo versus $1,590/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).