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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Cape Coral to Worcester

Cape Coral, FL vs Worcester, MA

Simple answer

You'd likely save $208 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 $308, with Cape Coral higher.

Florida has no tax on wages. Massachusetts taxes wages at rates up to 9.00%. Combined sales tax differs by 0.7 percentage points, higher in Florida. The effective property tax gap is 0.25 percentage points, higher in Massachusetts.

After a move from Florida to Massachusetts, 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 Cape Coral lines up with about $75,128 in Worcester on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

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

Worcester

Worcester, MA

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$2,043
HUD area
Worcester, MA HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,563
All-items price parity
102.5
Goods price parity
97.0
Utilities price parity
155.2
Mean commute
29.8 min
Median household income
$96,602

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

$75,128

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

After state and federal tax

$80,562

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

Rent only

$83,501

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

TaxFloridaMassachusetts
State income tax on wagesNo wage taxup to 9.00%
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20267.0%6.3%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.75%1.00%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $3,016 a year in Florida and $4,004 in Massachusetts. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Massachusetts

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

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

    WorcesterLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

    WorcesterLikely eligible

  • WIC

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

    WorcesterLikely eligible

  • School meals

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

    WorcesterLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    Cape CoralMaybe

    WorcesterMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

    WorcesterLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

    WorcesterLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

    WorcesterUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    Cape CoralLikely eligible

    WorcesterLikely eligible

  • SSI

    Cape CoralUnlikely

    WorcesterUnlikely

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

Medicaid guide for Massachusetts · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

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