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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Albany to New Orleans

Albany, NY vs New Orleans, LA

Simple answer

You'd likely save $231 a month in New Orleans.

This is the HUD 2-bedroom fair-market rent for October 2026 through September 2027. It is not your lease.

The largest cost gap in this pair is housing prices. The BEA housing price parity differs by 16.6 points (Albany 102.6, New Orleans 86.0).

New York taxes wages at rates up to 10.90%. Louisiana taxes wages at a flat 3.00%. Combined sales tax differs by 1.6 percentage points, higher in Louisiana. The effective property tax gap is 0.92 percentage points, higher in New York.

After a move from New York to Louisiana, those two example households keep the same benefit status labels. A different income can still split Medicaid and marketplace credits.

A $75,000 salary in Albany lines up with about $69,750 in New Orleans on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Albany

Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,711
HUD area
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,341
All-items price parity
99.6
Goods price parity
99.7
Utilities price parity
134.0
Mean commute
23.7 min
Median household income
$86,637

New Orleans

New Orleans-Metairie, LA

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,480
HUD area
New Orleans-Metairie, LA HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,262
All-items price parity
92.6
Goods price parity
93.7
Utilities price parity
71.2
Mean commute
24.9 min
Median household income
$62,373

Equivalent salary

The first number keeps the same place in the national price level. The second also runs 2026 federal income tax, employee Social Security and Medicare, and a simplified state income tax. Groceries use the BEA goods price parity, not a grocery receipt.

Same buying power

$69,750

Salary in New Orleans that matches the 2024 all-items regional price parity.

After state and federal tax

$65,143

Gross salary in New Orleans whose after-tax pay buys the same basket, using price parities.

Rent only

$64,874

Scales the salary by the ratio of HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rents. Rent is not the whole budget.

Taxes on the two sides of the move

TaxNew YorkLouisiana
State income tax on wagesup to 10.90%3.00% flat
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20268.5%10.1%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median1.45%0.53%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $5,818 a year in New York and $2,127 in Louisiana. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Louisiana

Same household, $40,000 a year, scored once in New York and once in Louisiana. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    AlbanyLikely eligible

    New OrleansLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    AlbanyLikely eligible

    New OrleansLikely eligible

  • WIC

    AlbanyLikely eligible

    New OrleansLikely eligible

  • School meals

    AlbanyLikely eligible

    New OrleansLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    AlbanyMaybe

    New OrleansMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    AlbanyLikely eligible

    New OrleansLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    AlbanyLikely eligible

    New OrleansLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    AlbanyUnlikely

    New OrleansUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    AlbanyLikely eligible

    New OrleansLikely eligible

  • SSI

    AlbanyUnlikely

    New OrleansUnlikely

At $40,000 the status labels match. A single adult around $18,000 is where Medicaid expansion and the marketplace coverage gap usually split.

Medicaid guide for Louisiana · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Albany

The eight largest 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gaps from Albany.

Nearby metros

How the salary and tax math works · The reverse city order redirects to this address.