Maryland

Evaluating Maryland as a relocation target starts with the statewide BEA Regional Price Parity of 105.0 - where 100 is the national average, so every point above or below translates to percent-level cost of living difference. Housing costs in Maryland index at 121.1, goods at 102.5, and services at 110.9. HUD Fair Market Rents averaged across Maryland counties put a 2-bedroom at $1,657/month, the figure HUD uses to cap Section 8 voucher payments, so it reflects real submarket rents rather than listings bias.

On the income side, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics report a statewide median salary of $79,476 with a mean of $82,998 across 2,717,280 tracked jobs. For safety context, FBI UCR data shows a violent crime rate of 425 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 2074 per 100K. These state-level reads let you benchmark Maryland against both your origin state and national medians before zooming into specific metros.

Family and education costs often decide a move. Department of Labor data for Maryland shows center-based infant care running $14,631/year, preschool at $10,631/year, and toddler care at $10,631/year. Maryland contains 4 metropolitan statistical areas in our dataset - Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Hagerstown-Martinsburg, Lexington Park and more - each with its own rent, wage and crime profile that can diverge sharply from the statewide average. The composite Life Score of 35.3/100 (F) folds all seven federal sources into one number for quick comparison.