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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Atlanta to Cleveland

Atlanta, GA vs Cleveland, OH

Simple answer

You'd likely save $488 a month in Cleveland.

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 Census rent. Census median gross rent differs by $683, with Atlanta higher.

Georgia taxes wages at a flat 5.19%. Ohio taxes wages at a flat 2.75%. Combined sales tax differs by 0.2 percentage points, higher in Georgia. The effective property tax gap is 0.48 percentage points, higher in Ohio.

After a move from Georgia to Ohio, these benefit results change for a family of four at $40,000 and a single adult at $18,000: Marketplace premium tax credits, Medicaid and CHIP.

A $75,000 salary in Atlanta lines up with about $70,401 in Cleveland on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Atlanta

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,762
HUD area
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,770
All-items price parity
100.1
Goods price parity
100.4
Utilities price parity
96.2
Mean commute
32.4 min
Median household income
$92,344

Cleveland

Cleveland, OH

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,274
HUD area
Cleveland, OH HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,087
All-items price parity
93.9
Goods price parity
93.6
Utilities price parity
96.0
Mean commute
24.0 min
Median household income
$72,532

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

$70,401

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

After state and federal tax

$67,973

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

Rent only

$54,228

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

TaxGeorgiaOhio
State income tax on wages5.19% flat2.75% flat
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20267.5%7.3%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.74%1.22%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $2,976 a year in Georgia and $4,899 in Ohio. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Ohio

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

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    AtlantaLikely eligible

    ClevelandLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    AtlantaLikely eligible

    ClevelandLikely eligible

  • WIC

    AtlantaLikely eligible

    ClevelandLikely eligible

  • School meals

    AtlantaLikely eligible

    ClevelandLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    AtlantaMaybe

    ClevelandMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    AtlantaLikely eligible

    ClevelandLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    AtlantaLikely eligible

    ClevelandLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    AtlantaLikely eligible

    ClevelandUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    AtlantaLikely eligible

    ClevelandLikely eligible

  • SSI

    AtlantaUnlikely

    ClevelandUnlikely

Marketplace premium tax credits changes. In Atlanta the result is “Likely inside the 2026 subsidy range.” In Cleveland it is “Unlikely — Medicaid is the closer program.” Ohio expanded Medicaid, and this income is in the Medicaid range. Marketplace subsidies are usually not the program in that case.

Medicaid guide for Ohio · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Atlanta

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

Nearby metros

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