Overall
Diff -5.6 RPP
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson vs Atlantic City-Hammonton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Atlantic City-Hammonton is 5.4% less expensive than Baltimore-Columbia-Towson.
5.4% less expensive
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ is 5.4% less expensive than Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.9 vs 104.5). A $100,000 salary in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson buys about the same as $94,612 in Atlantic City-Hammonton; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 104.5 (Baltimore-Columbia-Towson) vs 98.9 (Atlantic City-Hammonton)
- $100k in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson ≈ $94,612 purchasing power in Atlantic City-Hammonton
- Rents drives the gap (-19.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MD:NJ 104.5→98.9
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE MD × NJ
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson would need to be in Atlantic City-Hammonton for the same purchasing power:
| In Baltimore-Columbia-Towson | In Atlantic City-Hammonton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,306 | $-2,694 |
| $75,000 | $70,959 | $-4,041 |
| $100,000 | $94,612 | $-5,388 |
| $150,000 | $141,918 | $-8,082 |
$ in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson = in Atlantic City-Hammonton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (104.5 → 98.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ is 5.4% less expensive than Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.6-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Baltimore-Columbia-Towson is above 100 while Atlantic City-Hammonton is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Atlantic City-Hammonton 19.5 points lower than Baltimore-Columbia-Towson. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson corresponds to $94,612 in Atlantic City-Hammonton.
Category Breakdown
| Category | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson | Atlantic City-Hammonton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 104.5 | 98.9 | -5.6 |
| Goods | 102.4 | 99.8 | -2.6 |
| Services | 110.2 | 109.2 | -1.0 |
| Rents | 118.2 | 98.7 | -19.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 104.5
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.9
Goods
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 102.4
Atlantic City-Hammonton 99.8
Services
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 110.2
Atlantic City-Hammonton 109.2
Rents
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 118.2
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson
104.5
Cost Index
Atlantic City-Hammonton
98.9
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson and Atlantic City-Hammonton share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 4.4 to 5.6 RPP points. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 26.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (6.9 to 19.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson RPP | Atlantic City-Hammonton RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 106.4 | 110.7 | 4.4 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2012 | 106.5 | 104.6 | 1.9 points Baltimore-Columbia-Towson higher |
| 2016 | 106.1 | 102.6 | 3.5 points Baltimore-Columbia-Towson higher |
| 2020 | 105.4 | 101.2 | 4.2 points Baltimore-Columbia-Towson higher |
| 2024 | 104.5 | 98.9 | 5.6 points Baltimore-Columbia-Towson higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Atlantic City-Hammonton more expensive than Baltimore-Columbia-Towson?
Atlantic City-Hammonton is 5.4% less expensive than Baltimore-Columbia-Towson. The overall cost index is 98.9 vs 104.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton equals $100K in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson?
A $100,000 salary in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson has the same purchasing power as $94,612 in Atlantic City-Hammonton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Baltimore-Columbia-Towson and Atlantic City-Hammonton?
Rents in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson are indexed at 118.2 while Atlantic City-Hammonton is at 98.7 (national average = 100). Baltimore-Columbia-Towson has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.