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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Look, the numbers are clear: 2 of 2 cities beat the national cost-of-living benchmark of 111. Baltimore stands out at 100 on the index, with rent of $1,708/month — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — and household income of $59,623. Assembled from 2026 Census, Zillow, and BLS data.
Look, the numbers are clear: 2 of 2 cities beat the national cost-of-living benchmark of 111. Baltimore stands out at 100 on the index, with rent of $1,708/month — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — and household income of $59,623. Assembled from 2026 Census, Zillow, and BLS data.
The ranking uses a composite of 2026 data from Census Bureau population/income surveys, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary benchmarks, and Tax Foundation tax rates. And more often than not, baltimore (index 100, rent $1,708); Raleigh (index 92, rent $1,567). Each city profile below links to the full detail page with 12-month trends, salary breakdowns, and cost category comparisons (which, to be fair, is a metric that favors smaller cities).
Dive into Baltimore's numbers: cost index 100 — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — (11 points below national average), rent $1,708/month, income $59,623, and a home price of $187,545. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Healthcare is the cheapest category at 100, while Healthcare runs 100. As a major city with 565,239 residents, amenities and job markets are robust.
Frankly, this looks affordable — until you factor in healthcare. And as a general rule, in Baltimore, the healthcare index sits at 100 — not a dealbreaker, but worth knowing about.
If you're ready to act on this, three things to do next: 1) Click into the city pages for the top 3 and check rent trends — direction matters more than the snapshot. 2) Run your income through the salary calculator for a personalized cost comparison. 3) Compare your top two picks head-to-head on our comparison page. The data is here; the decision is yours.
#1 Ranked: Baltimore, MD — cost index 100, rent $1,708/mo, income $59,623
2 of 2 cities come in below the national cost-of-living average of 111
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
| Rank | City | Cost Index | Median Rent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BaltimoreMD | 100 | $1,708 | Details |
| 2 | RaleighNC | 92 | $1,567 | Details |
565,239 residents · Maryland
Dive into Baltimore's numbers: cost index 100 (11 points below national average), rent $1,708/month, income $59,623, and a home price of $187,545. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Healthcare is the cheapest category at 100, while Healthcare runs 100. As a major city with 565,239 residents, amenities and job markets are robust.
482,295 residents · North Carolina
Here's Raleigh by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 92. Rent: $1,567/month. Income: $82,424/year. Home price: $428,831. Population: 482,295. The strongest category is Housing at 92; the most expensive is Healthcare at 98. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $3,936 per year vs. the national median. That's not a marginal difference — it reshapes your monthly budget.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
Baltimore (ranked #1) has a cost index of 100 and rent of $1,708/mo, while Raleigh (ranked #2) has a cost index of 92 and rent of $1,567/mo — a 8-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Baltimore is $1,708/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $187 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Baltimore is $187,545, which is 3.1× the local median income. That's within the standard 3.5× affordability rule for most local earners. The national median home price is $467,370.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.