An Overview of Cost of Living in Glen Burnie, MD
Knowing the cost of living in Glen Burnie allows individuals to create a realistic budget. This helps them understand how their income will cover expenses and whether they need to make financial adjustments. The cost of living in any region can fluctuate due to various factors. To assess the cost of living consistently across different areas, a national average of 100 serves as the basis for the cost of living index. The cost of living in Glen Burnie stands at 115, marking it 15% higher than the national average.
Housing costs make up a big chunk of the cost of living in Glen Burnie, and they usually eat into a large part of your take-home pay. Unfortunately, in this area, both buying a home and renting one costs 42% more than the average city. This includes stuff like home prices, rent, mortgage rates, and insurance.
Is Glen Burnie Affordable?
Is Glen Burnie an affordable place to live? That's a valid question to ask when you're thinking about moving to a new city. After all, how much it costs to live somewhere can be a huge factor in your decision. Affordability can be broken down into 3 common categories. The cost of living index (we talked about it earlier), housing expenses and income levels all play a big role in figuring out if a place is affordable. For instance, in Glen Burnie, the median home price is 42.1% higher than what most folks pay across the country, and monthly rent prices are 41.8% higher than the usual rates. Income levels in Glen Burnie come in at $74,932, which is 35.4% higher than the national average.
What Factors can Influence the Cost of Living in Glen Burnie?
Taxes: Cities that impose higher taxes, including sales and income taxes, can contribute to an escalated cost of living. The added expense of taxes on everyday goods like clothing and food naturally results in higher overall costs. Similarly, a higher income tax rate can further elevate the cost of living. In Glen Burnie, the general sales tax rate starts at 6%, and income tax rates begin at 2%.
Healthcare: Healthcare expenses and insurance premiums can vary significantly depending on the specific city or state. Factors such as accessibility to healthcare facilities, out-of-pocket expenses for doctor's visits, dental care expenses, prescription costs and specialized medical care fees can all influence the overall cost of living. In Glen Burnie, healthcare costs are 2.5% lower than the national average.
Groceries: The costs associated with groceries have witnessed substantial increases over the past 2-3 years. In select markets, food prices have escalated by more than 20% during this timeframe, whereas others have seen more restrained upticks. The variances in food expenses can exert a considerable influence on the overall cost of living in a given locale. In Glen Burnie, the groceries index is 4.5% higher than the national average.
Where is the Data From?
The Glen Burnie cost of living data displayed above is derived from the C2ER cost of living index to provide a useful and reasonably accurate measure of living cost differences in urban areas. Published on a quarterly basis, it compiles data from more than 300 independent researchers, encompassing over 60 goods and services. These items have been meticulously selected to represent various consumer expenditure categories, in 6 categories. Weightings assigned to cost differentials draw from government survey data tracking spending patterns among professional and executive households. While the C2ER index excludes data on sales or income tax rates, AreaVibes incorporates tax rates into the overall cost of living score for each region.