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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Jackson to New Orleans

Jackson, MS vs New Orleans, LA

Simple answer

You'd likely save $191 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 21.2 points (Jackson 64.8, New Orleans 86.0).

Mississippi taxes wages at a flat 4.00%. Louisiana taxes wages at a flat 3.00%. Combined sales tax differs by 3.0 percentage points, higher in Louisiana. The effective property tax gap is 0.12 percentage points, higher in Mississippi.

After a move from Mississippi to Louisiana, 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 Jackson lines up with about $77,989 in New Orleans on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

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

New Orleans

New Orleans-Metairie, LA

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,480
HUD area
New Orleans-Metairie, LA HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,262
All-items price parity
92.6
Goods price parity
93.7
Utilities price parity
71.2
Mean commute
24.9 min
Median household income
$62,373

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

$77,989

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

After state and federal tax

$77,910

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

Rent only

$86,113

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

TaxMississippiLouisiana
State income tax on wages4.00% flat3.00% flat
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20267.1%10.1%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.65%0.53%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $2,619 a year in Mississippi and $2,127 in Louisiana. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Louisiana

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

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    JacksonLikely eligible

    New OrleansLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    JacksonLikely eligible

    New OrleansLikely eligible

  • WIC

    JacksonLikely eligible

    New OrleansLikely eligible

  • School meals

    JacksonLikely eligible

    New OrleansLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    JacksonMaybe

    New OrleansMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    JacksonLikely eligible

    New OrleansLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    JacksonLikely eligible

    New OrleansLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    JacksonLikely eligible

    New OrleansUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    JacksonLikely eligible

    New OrleansLikely eligible

  • SSI

    JacksonUnlikely

    New OrleansUnlikely

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

Medicaid guide for Louisiana · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Jackson

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

Nearby metros

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