Salisbury, MD vs Phoenix, AZ
Moving from Salisbury to Phoenix? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($429,483 → $448,352 median home) and taxes.
Salisbury vs Phoenix 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 $112,989 in Phoenix, AZ (+$12,989).
Livability — Salisbury, MD: 65 · Phoenix, AZ: 62 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,212 sqft in Salisbury vs 2,063 sqft in Phoenix ($226 vs $242 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Salisbury, MD | Phoenix, AZ | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $23,616 | $20,904 | −$2,712 |
| Groceries | $4,863 | $4,919 | +$56 |
| Transportation | $3,685 | $3,960 | +$275 |
| Utilities | $2,388 | $1,668 | −$720 |
| Insurance | $1,400 | $1,800 | +$400 |
| Taxes | $9,253 | $7,280 | −$1,973 |
| Total | $45,205 | $40,531 | −$4,674 |
Side by side
| Metric | Salisbury, MD | Phoenix, AZ |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 92.6 | 104.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.84% | 4.88% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 6.9% | 6.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.27 | $5.96 |
| Median home price | $429,483 | $448,352 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.9× | 5.6× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -0.5% | -1.7% |
| Price per square foot | $226 | $242 |
| Median rent | $1,968 | $1,742 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.3% | 9.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 6.00% | 8.38% |
| Capital gains tax | 5.75% | 2.50% |
| Property tax rate | 0.49% | 0.51% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,300 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $12,500 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 1.68% |
| Avg commute (min) | 25 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,400 | $1,800 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,900 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $550 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 22.1 | 15.5 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.30 | 3.60 |
| Natural gas / mo | $88 | $54 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $106 | $106 |
| Home internet / mo | $82 | $77 |
| Violent crime /100k | 450 | 430 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 104 |
| Avg winter low °F | 27 | 41 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 45.0 | 7.2 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 19.3 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 57% | 85% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 4 | 2 |