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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Augusta to Baltimore

Augusta, GA vs Baltimore, MD

Simple answer

You'd likely save $677 a month in Augusta.

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 47.6 points (Augusta 70.6, Baltimore 118.2).

Georgia taxes wages at a flat 5.19%. Maryland taxes wages at rates up to 6.50%. Combined sales tax differs by 1.5 percentage points, higher in Georgia. The effective property tax gap is 0.21 percentage points, higher in Maryland.

After a move from Georgia to Maryland, 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 Augusta lines up with about $85,270 in Baltimore on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Augusta

Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,329
HUD area
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,243
All-items price parity
91.9
Goods price parity
96.3
Utilities price parity
89.5
Mean commute
25.2 min
Median household income
$72,176

Baltimore

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$2,006
HUD area
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,633
All-items price parity
104.5
Goods price parity
102.4
Utilities price parity
110.2
Mean commute
30.3 min
Median household income
$98,666

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

$85,270

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

After state and federal tax

$90,372

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

Rent only

$113,205

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

TaxGeorgiaMaryland
State income tax on wages5.19% flatup to 6.50%
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20267.5%6.0%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.74%0.95%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $2,976 a year in Georgia and $3,799 in Maryland. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Maryland

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

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    AugustaLikely eligible

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    AugustaLikely eligible

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

  • WIC

    AugustaLikely eligible

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

  • School meals

    AugustaLikely eligible

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    AugustaMaybe

    BaltimoreMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    AugustaLikely eligible

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    AugustaLikely eligible

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    AugustaLikely eligible

    BaltimoreUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    AugustaLikely eligible

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

  • SSI

    AugustaUnlikely

    BaltimoreUnlikely

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

Medicaid guide for Maryland · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Augusta

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

Nearby metros

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