Palm Bay, FL vs Baltimore, MD
Moving from Palm Bay to Baltimore? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($344,841 → $405,877 median home) and taxes.
Palm Bay vs Baltimore at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Palm Bay, FL, you'd need about $101,838 in Baltimore, MD (+$1,838).
Livability — Palm Bay, FL: 66 · Baltimore, MD: 57 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,682 sqft in Palm Bay vs 2,341 sqft in Baltimore ($186 vs $214 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Palm Bay, FL | Baltimore, MD | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $23,040 | $23,028 | −$12 |
| Groceries | $4,813 | $5,075 | +$262 |
| Transportation | $4,800 | $3,685 | −$1,115 |
| Utilities | $1,656 | $2,388 | +$732 |
| Insurance | $4,200 | $1,400 | −$2,800 |
| Taxes | $4,459 | $11,584 | +$7,125 |
| Total | $42,968 | $47,160 | +$4,192 |
Side by side
| Metric | Palm Bay, FL | Baltimore, MD |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 101.3 | 103.2 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.86% | 4.86% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.5% | 1.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 40 | 47 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.77 | $5.87 |
| Median home price | $344,841 | $405,877 |
| Home price ÷ income | 4.8× | 4.3× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -2.2% | 0.8% |
| Price per square foot | $186 | $214 |
| Median rent | $1,920 | $1,919 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.1% | 11.3% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.02% | 6.00% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 5.75% |
| Property tax rate | 0.72% | 1.04% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,500 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $16,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 26 | 30 |
| Home insurance / yr | $4,200 | $1,400 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,900 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,400 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 15.4 | 22.1 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.35 | 3.30 |
| Violent crime /100k | 380 | 450 |
| Avg summer high °F | 91 | 88 |
| Avg winter low °F | 52 | 27 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 4 |