Salisbury, MD vs Seattle, WA
Moving from Salisbury to Seattle? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($429,483 → $750,279 median home) and taxes.
Salisbury vs Seattle 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 $121,683 in Seattle, WA (+$21,683).
Livability — Salisbury, MD: 65 · Seattle, WA: 48 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,212 sqft in Salisbury vs 1,200 sqft in Seattle ($226 vs $417 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Salisbury, MD | Seattle, WA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $23,616 | $26,784 | +$3,168 |
| Groceries | $4,863 | $5,405 | +$542 |
| Transportation | $3,685 | $4,075 | +$390 |
| Utilities | $2,388 | $1,548 | −$840 |
| Insurance | $1,400 | $1,500 | +$100 |
| Taxes | $9,253 | $8,826 | −$427 |
| Total | $45,205 | $48,138 | +$2,933 |
Side by side
| Metric | Salisbury, MD | Seattle, WA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 92.6 | 112.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.84% | 4.59% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 6.9% | 7.1% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.27 | $6.41 |
| Median home price | $429,483 | $750,279 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.9× | 7.0× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -0.5% | -1.9% |
| Price per square foot | $226 | $417 |
| Median rent | $1,968 | $2,232 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.3% | 10.7% |
| Combined sales tax | 6.00% | 9.38% |
| Capital gains tax | 5.75% | 7.00% |
| Property tax rate | 0.49% | 0.88% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $16,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 25 | 30 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,400 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,900 | $1,600 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $700 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 22.1 | 14.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.30 | 4.55 |
| Natural gas / mo | $88 | $58 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $106 | $167 |
| Home internet / mo | $82 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 450 | 375 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 76 |
| Avg winter low °F | 27 | 37 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 45.0 | 39.3 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 19.3 | 6.3 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 57% | 47% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 4 | 5 |