Palm Bay, FL vs Cleveland, OH
Moving from Palm Bay to Cleveland? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($344,841 → $252,210 median home) and taxes.
Palm Bay vs Cleveland 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 $90,207 in Cleveland, OH (−$9,793).
Livability — Palm Bay, FL: 66 · Cleveland, OH: 71 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,682 sqft in Palm Bay vs 3,270 sqft in Cleveland ($186 vs $153 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Palm Bay, FL | Cleveland, OH | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $23,040 | $17,532 | −$5,508 |
| Groceries | $4,813 | $4,830 | +$17 |
| Transportation | $4,800 | $3,025 | −$1,775 |
| Utilities | $1,656 | $2,100 | +$444 |
| Insurance | $4,200 | $1,300 | −$2,900 |
| Taxes | $4,459 | $9,518 | +$5,059 |
| Total | $42,968 | $38,305 | −$4,663 |
Side by side
| Metric | Palm Bay, FL | Cleveland, OH |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 101.3 | 91.4 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.86% | 5.88% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.5% | 0.8% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.77 | $5.20 |
| Median home price | $344,841 | $252,210 |
| Home price ÷ income | 4.8× | 3.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -2.2% | 4.3% |
| Price per square foot | $186 | $153 |
| Median rent | $1,920 | $1,461 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.1% | 10.0% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.02% | 7.24% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 3.50% |
| Property tax rate | 0.72% | 1.84% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,500 | $6,400 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 26 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $4,200 | $1,300 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,900 | $1,300 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,400 | $600 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 15.4 | 19.5 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.35 | 3.25 |
| Natural gas / mo | $38 | $78 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $88 | $104 |
| Home internet / mo | $76 | $76 |
| Violent crime /100k | 380 | 300 |
| Avg summer high °F | 91 | 85 |
| Avg winter low °F | 52 | 20 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 51.5 | 41.0 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 63.8 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 68% | 49% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 2 |