Baton Rouge, LA · New Orleans, LA
Baton Rouge is 9% cheaper than New Orleans overall.
Home Price
Baton: $220,000
New: $245,000
Monthly Rent
Baton: $800/mo
New: $1,271/mo
COL Index
Baton: 88
New: 96
Median Income
Baton: $55,800
New: $52,000
Median Home Price
Monthly Rent (Median)
Median Household Income
Property Tax Rate
Cost of Living Index
100 = national average
Avg. Commute
Unemployment Rate
Median Age
A $100,000 salary in Baton Rouge has the same purchasing power as $109,091 in New Orleans — based on each city's cost of living index.
Homes in New Orleans are 11% cheaper (-$25,000 less). That's a significant down payment and monthly payment difference.
Renting in Baton Rouge saves you $471/month — $5,652 per year. Median rent: $800/mo in Baton Rouge vs $1,271/mo in New Orleans.
On a median-priced home, Baton Rouge owners pay roughly $1,210/year in property taxes vs $1,348/year in New Orleans. Rates are comparable.
Median household income is $55,800 in Baton Rouge and $52,000 in New Orleans. New Orleans residents earn 7% more — but remember to factor in cost of living.
Average commute is 25 minutes in Baton Rouge vs 27 minutes in New Orleans. Commute times are nearly identical.
To maintain the same lifestyle when moving from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, here's the salary you'd need:
| Salary in Baton Rouge | Equivalent in New Orleans | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $54,545 | +$4,545 |
| $75,000 | $81,818 | +$6,818 |
| $100,000 | $109,091 | +$9,091 |
| $150,000 | $163,636 | +$13,636 |
| $200,000 | $218,182 | +$18,182 |
* Calculated using cost of living indices (national average = 100). Does not account for state income tax differences.
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Based on cost of living indices, Baton Rouge is cheaper overall. Baton Rouge has a COL index of 88 while New Orleans scores 96 (national average = 100).
The median home price in Baton Rouge is $220,000 vs $245,000 in New Orleans — a difference of $25,000 (11%).
Use the salary equivalence table above. For example, a $100K salary in Baton Rouge is equivalent to $109,091 in New Orleans in terms of purchasing power.
New Orleans has a lower property tax rate (0.55% vs 0.55%). On a median-priced home, that means paying $1,210/year vs $1,348/year.
Median monthly rent: $800 in Baton Rouge vs $1,271 in New Orleans. Annualized: $9,600 vs $15,252.
Baton Rouge: $55,800/yr. New Orleans: $52,000/yr (Census ACS).
Lower-cost Baton Rouge typically lets remote-workers keeping a coastal salary stretch further. Higher-cost cities usually win on amenities and labor-market depth.
Numbers are pulled from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI (home values, rent), the U.S. Census Bureau ACS (income), and BEA RPP (cost-of-living index). Each value is timestamped on the page.
Source feeds refresh on their native cadence — hourly for mortgage rates, monthly for ZHVI/ZORI, annually for ACS. Page caches revalidate every 24 hours via Next.js ISR.
No. This page is educational reference using public data and standard formulas. It is not personalized tax, legal, or investment advice. Consult a licensed professional for material decisions.
City-level metrics (median home price, median rent, median household income, property tax rate, COL index, commute, unemployment, median age) are sourced from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI[1], Census ACS 5-year estimates[2], BEA Regional Price Parities[3], Tax Foundation[4], and BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics[5].
The Cost of Living Index uses 100 = national average (C2ER methodology[6]): values above 100 indicate a city is more expensive than the national average, below 100 less expensive.
Salary equivalence uses the ratio adjustedSalary = salary × (colDestination / colOrigin). This accounts for cost-of-living differences but does not model state income tax variation, which can be significant.
Annual property tax is computed as medianHomePrice × propertyTaxRate. Actual assessed value may differ from sale price. Effective rates vary within a metro; these are metro-wide medians.
Commute-hours calculations assume 250 working days/year and a round-trip commute. "Tied" in the comparison table means values within ±1% of each other.
Last reviewed reflects the maximum retrievedAt timestamp across every sourced dataset feeding this page. When any source refreshes, the next ISR revalidation (every 24 hours) picks the new date.
Cost of living data sourced from [6] C2ER, [2] U.S. Census Bureau, and [1] Zillow Research. Tax rates from [4] Tax Foundation. Last reviewed .