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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Bridgeport to Durham

Bridgeport, CT vs Durham, NC

Simple answer

You'd likely save $654 a month in Durham.

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 51.5 points (Bridgeport 150.5, Durham 98.9).

Connecticut taxes wages at rates up to 6.99%. North Carolina taxes wages at a flat 3.99%. Combined sales tax differs by 0.7 percentage points, higher in North Carolina. The effective property tax gap is 1.04 percentage points, higher in Connecticut.

After a move from Connecticut to North Carolina, 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 Bridgeport lines up with about $68,479 in Durham on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Bridgeport

Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$2,399
HUD area
Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,895
All-items price parity
106.9
Goods price parity
97.3
Utilities price parity
147.1
Mean commute
32.3 min
Median household income
$116,402

Durham

Durham-Chapel Hill, NC

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,745
HUD area
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,598
All-items price parity
97.6
Goods price parity
96.6
Utilities price parity
89.3
Mean commute
24.4 min
Median household income
$83,542

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

$68,479

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

After state and federal tax

$67,164

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

Rent only

$54,554

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

TaxConnecticutNorth Carolina
State income tax on wagesup to 6.99%3.99% flat
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20266.3%7.0%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median1.66%0.61%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $6,624 a year in Connecticut and $2,455 in North Carolina. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in North Carolina

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

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    BridgeportLikely eligible

    DurhamLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    BridgeportLikely eligible

    DurhamLikely eligible

  • WIC

    BridgeportLikely eligible

    DurhamLikely eligible

  • School meals

    BridgeportLikely eligible

    DurhamLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    BridgeportMaybe

    DurhamMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    BridgeportLikely eligible

    DurhamLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    BridgeportLikely eligible

    DurhamLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    BridgeportUnlikely

    DurhamUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    BridgeportLikely eligible

    DurhamLikely eligible

  • SSI

    BridgeportUnlikely

    DurhamUnlikely

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 North Carolina · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Bridgeport

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

Nearby metros

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