Skip to content
Cost & Benefits

Compare / Albuquerque to Oxnard

Albuquerque, NM vs Oxnard, CA

Simple answer

You'd likely save $1,040 a month in Albuquerque.

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 81.9 points (Albuquerque 89.2, Oxnard 171.1).

New Mexico taxes wages at rates up to 5.90%. California taxes wages at rates up to 13.30%. Combined sales tax differs by 1.3 percentage points, higher in California. The effective property tax gap is 0.07 percentage points, higher in California.

After a move from New Mexico to California, 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 Albuquerque lines up with about $86,765 in Oxnard on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Albuquerque

Albuquerque, NM

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,384
HUD area
Albuquerque, NM MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,220
All-items price parity
95.5
Goods price parity
96.1
Utilities price parity
77.9
Mean commute
25.6 min
Median household income
$76,097

Oxnard

Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$2,424
HUD area
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA MSA
Census median gross rent
$2,313
All-items price parity
110.5
Goods price parity
105.2
Utilities price parity
152.9
Mean commute
26.7 min
Median household income
$114,238

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

$86,765

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

After state and federal tax

$90,852

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

Rent only

$131,358

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 MexicoCalifornia
State income tax on wagesup to 5.90%up to 13.30%
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20267.7%9.0%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.63%0.71%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $2,538 a year in New Mexico and $2,828 in California. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in California

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

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    AlbuquerqueLikely eligible

    OxnardLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    AlbuquerqueLikely eligible

    OxnardLikely eligible

  • WIC

    AlbuquerqueLikely eligible

    OxnardLikely eligible

  • School meals

    AlbuquerqueLikely eligible

    OxnardLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    AlbuquerqueMaybe

    OxnardMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    AlbuquerqueLikely eligible

    OxnardLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    AlbuquerqueLikely eligible

    OxnardLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    AlbuquerqueUnlikely

    OxnardUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    AlbuquerqueLikely eligible

    OxnardLikely eligible

  • SSI

    AlbuquerqueUnlikely

    OxnardUnlikely

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 California · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Albuquerque

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

Nearby metros

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