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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Baltimore to Cape Coral

Baltimore, MD vs Cape Coral, FL

Simple answer

You'd likely save $171 a month in Cape Coral.

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 $238, with Cape Coral higher.

Maryland taxes wages at rates up to 6.50%. Florida has no tax on wages. Combined sales tax differs by 1.0 percentage points, higher in Florida. The effective property tax gap is 0.20 percentage points, higher in Maryland.

After a move from Maryland to Florida, 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 Baltimore lines up with about $73,465 in Cape Coral on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

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

Cape Coral

Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,835
HUD area
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,871
All-items price parity
102.3
Goods price parity
96.2
Utilities price parity
86.9
Mean commute
31.9 min
Median household income
$83,602

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

$73,465

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

After state and federal tax

$66,280

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

Rent only

$68,607

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

TaxMarylandFlorida
State income tax on wagesup to 6.50%No wage tax
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20266.0%7.0%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.95%0.75%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $3,799 a year in Maryland and $3,016 in Florida. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Florida

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

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

  • WIC

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

  • School meals

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    BaltimoreMaybe

    Cape CoralMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    BaltimoreUnlikely

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

  • SSI

    BaltimoreUnlikely

    Cape CoralUnlikely

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

Medicaid guide for Florida · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Baltimore

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

Nearby metros

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