Overall
- Naples-Marco Island
- 103.2
Diff -1.3 RPP
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson vs Naples-Marco Island
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Naples-Marco Island is 1.2% less expensive than Baltimore-Columbia-Towson.
1.2% less expensive
Naples-Marco Island, FL is 1.2% less expensive than Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.2 vs 104.5). A $100,000 salary in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson buys about the same as $98,768 in Naples-Marco Island; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 104.5 (Baltimore-Columbia-Towson) vs 103.2 (Naples-Marco Island)
- $100k in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson ≈ $98,768 purchasing power in Naples-Marco Island
- Services drives the gap (-22.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MD:FL 104.5→103.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MD × FL
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
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.
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson
104.5
Cost Index
Naples-Marco Island
103.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD and Naples-Marco Island, FL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Naples-Marco Island is 22.5 points lower. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson to $98,768 in Naples-Marco Island, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Naples-Marco Island
- 96.2
Diff -6.1 RPP
Services
- Naples-Marco Island
- 87.8
Diff -22.5 RPP
Rents
- Naples-Marco Island
- 129.4
Diff +11.2 RPP
| Category | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson | Naples-Marco Island | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 104.5 | 103.2 | -1.3 |
| Goods | 102.4 | 96.2 | -6.1 |
| Services | 110.2 | 87.8 | -22.5 |
| Rents | 118.2 | 129.4 | +11.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 104.5
Naples-Marco Island 103.2
Goods
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 102.4
Naples-Marco Island 96.2
Services
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 110.2
Naples-Marco Island 87.8
Rents
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 118.2
Naples-Marco Island 129.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson and Naples-Marco Island share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 2.1 to 1.3 RPP points. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 6.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (29.3 to 22.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson RPP | Naples-Marco Island RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 106.4 | 104.3 | 2.1 points Baltimore-Columbia-Towson higher |
| 2012 | 106.5 | 101.6 | 4.9 points Baltimore-Columbia-Towson higher |
| 2016 | 106.1 | 103.8 | 2.3 points Baltimore-Columbia-Towson higher |
| 2020 | 105.4 | 99.1 | 6.3 points Baltimore-Columbia-Towson higher |
| 2024 | 104.5 | 103.2 | 1.3 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson would need to be in Naples-Marco Island for the same purchasing power:
| In Baltimore-Columbia-Towson | In Naples-Marco Island | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,384 | $-616 |
| $75,000 | $74,076 | $-924 |
| $100,000 | $98,768 | $-1,232 |
| $150,000 | $148,152 | $-1,848 |
$ in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson = in Naples-Marco Island
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (104.5 → 103.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Naples-Marco Island more expensive than Baltimore-Columbia-Towson?
Naples-Marco Island is 1.2% less expensive than Baltimore-Columbia-Towson. The overall cost index is 103.2 vs 104.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Naples-Marco Island equals $100K in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson?
A $100,000 salary in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson has the same purchasing power as $98,768 in Naples-Marco Island. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Baltimore-Columbia-Towson and Naples-Marco Island?
Rents in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson are indexed at 118.2 while Naples-Marco Island is at 129.4 (national average = 100). Naples-Marco Island 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.