Overall
Diff -2.2 RPP
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom vs Baltimore-Columbia-Towson
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson is 2% less expensive than Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom.
2% less expensive
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD is 2% less expensive than Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 104.5 vs 106.7). A $100,000 salary in Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom buys about the same as $97,954 in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 106.7 (Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom) vs 104.5 (Baltimore-Columbia-Towson)
- $100k in Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom ≈ $97,954 purchasing power in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson
- Services drives the gap (-41.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:MD 106.7→104.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE CA × MD
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD is 2% less expensive than Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.2-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 41.1 points lower than Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom. 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom to $97,954 in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -2.8 RPP
Services
Diff -41.1 RPP
Rents
Diff -12.0 RPP
| Category | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 106.7 | 104.5 | -2.2 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 102.4 | -2.8 |
| Services | 151.3 | 110.2 | -41.1 |
| Rents | 130.2 | 118.2 | -12.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom 106.7
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 104.5
Goods
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom 105.2
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 102.4
Services
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom 151.3
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 110.2
Rents
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom 130.2
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 118.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom would need to be in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson for the same purchasing power:
| In Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom | In Baltimore-Columbia-Towson | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,977 | $-1,023 |
| $75,000 | $73,465 | $-1,535 |
| $100,000 | $97,954 | $-2,046 |
| $150,000 | $146,930 | $-3,070 |
$ in Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom = in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (106.7 → 104.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom
106.7
Cost Index
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson
104.5
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Baltimore-Columbia-Towson more expensive than Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom?
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson is 2% less expensive than Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom. The overall cost index is 104.5 vs 106.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson equals $100K in Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom?
A $100,000 salary in Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom has the same purchasing power as $97,954 in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom and Baltimore-Columbia-Towson?
Rents in Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom are indexed at 130.2 while Baltimore-Columbia-Towson is at 118.2 (national average = 100). Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom 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.