Salisbury, MD vs Houston, TX
Moving from Salisbury to Houston? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($429,483 → $308,306 median home) and taxes.
Salisbury vs Houston 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 Salisbury, MD, you'd need about $107,654 in Houston, TX (+$7,654).
Livability — Salisbury, MD: 65 · Houston, TX: 75 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,212 sqft in Salisbury vs 3,406 sqft in Houston ($226 vs $147 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Salisbury, MD | Houston, TX | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $23,616 | $19,668 | −$3,948 |
| Groceries | $4,863 | $5,085 | +$221 |
| Transportation | $3,685 | $3,675 | −$10 |
| Utilities | $2,388 | $1,836 | −$552 |
| Insurance | $1,400 | $3,600 | +$2,200 |
| Taxes | $9,253 | $7,399 | −$1,854 |
| Total | $45,205 | $41,263 | −$3,943 |
Side by side
| Metric | Salisbury, MD | Houston, TX |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 92.6 | 99.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.84% | 5.96% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 6.9% | 7.6% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.27 | $5.67 |
| Median home price | $429,483 | $308,306 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.9× | 3.9× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -0.5% | -2.0% |
| Price per square foot | $226 | $147 |
| Median rent | $1,968 | $1,639 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.3% | 8.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 6.00% | 8.20% |
| Capital gains tax | 5.75% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.49% | 1.79% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $9,500 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 25 | 30 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,400 | $3,600 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,900 | $2,100 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $900 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 22.1 | 17.0 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.30 | 3.00 |
| Natural gas / mo | $88 | $52 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $106 | $134 |
| Home internet / mo | $82 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 450 | 430 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 96 |
| Avg winter low °F | 27 | 38 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 45.0 | 55.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 19.3 | 0.1 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 57% | 59% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 4 | 2 |