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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Baltimore to Jackson

Baltimore, MD vs Jackson, MS

Simple answer

You'd likely save $717 a month in Jackson.

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 53.4 points (Baltimore 118.2, Jackson 64.8).

Maryland taxes wages at rates up to 6.50%. Mississippi taxes wages at a flat 4.00%. Combined sales tax differs by 1.1 percentage points, higher in Mississippi. The effective property tax gap is 0.30 percentage points, higher in Maryland.

After a move from Maryland to Mississippi, 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 $63,918 in Jackson 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

Jackson

Jackson, MS

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,289
HUD area
Jackson, MS HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,100
All-items price parity
89.0
Goods price parity
96.2
Utilities price parity
78.1
Mean commute
24.9 min
Median household income
$64,835

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

$63,918

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

After state and federal tax

$59,357

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

Rent only

$48,193

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

TaxMarylandMississippi
State income tax on wagesup to 6.50%4.00% flat
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20266.0%7.1%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.95%0.65%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $3,799 a year in Maryland and $2,619 in Mississippi. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Mississippi

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

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

    JacksonLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

    JacksonLikely eligible

  • WIC

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

    JacksonLikely eligible

  • School meals

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

    JacksonLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    BaltimoreMaybe

    JacksonMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

    JacksonLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

    JacksonLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    BaltimoreUnlikely

    JacksonLikely eligible

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    BaltimoreLikely eligible

    JacksonLikely eligible

  • SSI

    BaltimoreUnlikely

    JacksonUnlikely

Marketplace premium tax credits changes. In Baltimore the result is “Unlikely — Medicaid is the closer program.” In Jackson 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 Mississippi · 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.