Maryland vs Pennsylvania

Household income

Currently in

Moving to

Your $100,000 in Maryland is worth

$95,238

at national prices · RPP 105.0BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

The same income in Pennsylvania is worth

$102,459

at national prices · RPP 97.6BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

Your income goes +$7,221 further in Pennsylvania (+7.6% purchasing power).

Show the math

adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)

Maryland: $100,000 ÷ (105.0 ÷ 100) = $95,238

Pennsylvania: $100,000 ÷ (97.6 ÷ 100) = $102,459

difference: $102,459 − $95,238 = +$7,221

Where the difference comes from

Price level by component, 100 = US average. Higher means more expensive.

Regional price parity by component for the two states, with the percentage difference.
Component	Maryland	Pennsylvania	Difference
All items	105.0	97.6	−7.0%
Housing rents	121.1	85.1	−29.7%
Goods	102.5	99.4	−3.0%
Utilities	110.9	109.3	−1.4%
Other services	101.6	99.8	−1.8%

BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 · rel. February 2026 · Official API

Housing reality check

Typical rent and home price in each state — tangible context beyond the index.

MarylandMedian rent$1,705/moMedian home$419,900

PennsylvaniaMedian rent$1,209/moMedian home$254,500

US Census ACS 5-Year Estimates · ACS5 · 2024 · rel. December 2025 · Official API

Tax at a glance

Hand-curated, tax year 2026 · verified 2026-07-20

Income and sales tax for the two states.
Tax	Maryland	Pennsylvania
Income tax (top rate)	6.50%	3.07%
Sales tax (combined avg)	6.00%	6.34%

Tax Foundation (income & sales) · Tax · 2026 · rel. tax year 2026 · Manually maintained · verified 2026-07-20

Official API Manually maintained2 of 3 metrics sourced from official APIs, 1 manually maintained. How every number is calculated →

Maryland vs Pennsylvania: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from Maryland to Pennsylvania and its purchasing power changes from $95,238 to $102,459 in national-average terms — a gain of $7,221. Pennsylvania is the cheaper of the two, running at 97.6 on the price index versus 105.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is housing rents: Maryland sits at 121.1 and Pennsylvania at 85.1 (100 = national). Pennsylvania has the edge there, and it's the main reason the two states diverge.

Housing

Median rent runs $1,705 in Maryland against $1,209 in Pennsylvania, and the typical home $419,900 versus $254,500. Pennsylvania is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, Maryland has 6.50% top income tax and a combined sales tax of 6.00%; Pennsylvania has 3.07% top income tax and 6.34%. Weigh both against the purchasing-power figure above.

Full profiles: Maryland ·Pennsylvania. Every figure here is sourced on the pages linked above.

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