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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Buffalo to Jacksonville

Buffalo, NY vs Jacksonville, FL

Simple answer

You'd likely save $271 a month in Buffalo.

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 $511, with Jacksonville higher.

New York taxes wages at rates up to 10.90%. Florida has no tax on wages. Combined sales tax differs by 1.6 percentage points, higher in New York. The effective property tax gap is 0.70 percentage points, higher in New York.

After a move from New York 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 Buffalo lines up with about $77,848 in Jacksonville on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Buffalo

Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,423
HUD area
Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,114
All-items price parity
95.8
Goods price parity
99.7
Utilities price parity
129.5
Mean commute
21.5 min
Median household income
$72,300

Jacksonville

Jacksonville, FL

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,694
HUD area
Jacksonville, FL HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,625
All-items price parity
99.5
Goods price parity
96.2
Utilities price parity
87.5
Mean commute
27.4 min
Median household income
$82,053

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

$77,848

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

After state and federal tax

$71,460

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

Rent only

$89,283

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

TaxNew YorkFlorida
State income tax on wagesup to 10.90%No wage tax
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20268.5%7.0%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median1.45%0.75%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $5,818 a year in New York 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 New York and once in Florida. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    BuffaloLikely eligible

    JacksonvilleLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    BuffaloLikely eligible

    JacksonvilleLikely eligible

  • WIC

    BuffaloLikely eligible

    JacksonvilleLikely eligible

  • School meals

    BuffaloLikely eligible

    JacksonvilleLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    BuffaloMaybe

    JacksonvilleMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    BuffaloLikely eligible

    JacksonvilleLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    BuffaloLikely eligible

    JacksonvilleLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    BuffaloUnlikely

    JacksonvilleLikely eligible

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    BuffaloLikely eligible

    JacksonvilleLikely eligible

  • SSI

    BuffaloUnlikely

    JacksonvilleUnlikely

Marketplace premium tax credits changes. In Buffalo the result is “Unlikely — Medicaid is the closer program.” In Jacksonville it is “Likely inside the 2026 subsidy range.” New York 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 Buffalo

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

Nearby metros

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