Skip to content
Cost & Benefits

Compare / Providence to Rochester

Providence, RI vs Rochester, NY

Simple answer

You'd likely save $463 a month in Rochester.

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 Fair Market Rent. The 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gap is $463: Providence is higher at $1,879 versus $1,416.

Rhode Island taxes wages at rates up to 5.99%. New York taxes wages at rates up to 10.90%. Combined sales tax differs by 1.5 percentage points, higher in New York. The effective property tax gap is 0.38 percentage points, higher in New York.

After a move from Rhode Island to New York, 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 Providence lines up with about $71,508 in Rochester on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Providence

Providence-Warwick, RI-MA

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,879
HUD area
Providence-Fall River, RI-MA HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,396
All-items price parity
101.8
Goods price parity
97.1
Utilities price parity
148.8
Mean commute
27.9 min
Median household income
$82,870

Rochester

Rochester, NY

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,416
HUD area
Rochester, NY MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,172
All-items price parity
97.0
Goods price parity
99.7
Utilities price parity
133.2
Mean commute
20.8 min
Median household income
$76,453

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

$71,508

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

After state and federal tax

$74,514

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

Rent only

$56,519

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

TaxRhode IslandNew York
State income tax on wagesup to 5.99%up to 10.90%
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20267.0%8.5%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median1.07%1.45%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $4,289 a year in Rhode Island and $5,818 in New York. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in New York

Same household, $40,000 a year, scored once in Rhode Island and once in New York. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    ProvidenceLikely eligible

    RochesterLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    ProvidenceLikely eligible

    RochesterLikely eligible

  • WIC

    ProvidenceLikely eligible

    RochesterLikely eligible

  • School meals

    ProvidenceLikely eligible

    RochesterLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    ProvidenceMaybe

    RochesterMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    ProvidenceLikely eligible

    RochesterLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    ProvidenceLikely eligible

    RochesterLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    ProvidenceUnlikely

    RochesterUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    ProvidenceLikely eligible

    RochesterLikely eligible

  • SSI

    ProvidenceUnlikely

    RochesterUnlikely

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 New York · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Providence

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

Nearby metros

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