Cost of living in Baton Rouge, LA
The Baton Rouge, LA metro area (882,652 people) ranks #138 of 149 for prices among the U.S. metro areas we cover. Here's what it costs to live there.
Hover over or tap a dot to see its value.
See all 149 cities
Price level, from cheaper to pricier.
- The Villages, FL 85.4
- McAllen, TX 85.9
- Springfield, MO 88.6
- Wichita, KS 88.9
- Jackson, MS 89.0
- Tulsa, OK 89.2
- Columbus, GA 89.3
- Little Rock, AR 89.4
- El Paso, TX 89.9
- Oklahoma City, OK 90.4
- Sioux Falls, SD 90.6
- Baton Rouge, LA 90.8
- Clarksville, TN 90.9
- Fargo, ND 90.9
- Killeen, TX 91.1
- Spartanburg, SC 91.1
- Fayetteville, AR 91.4
- Chattanooga, TN 91.5
- Toledo, OH 91.5
- Birmingham, AL 91.6
- Des Moines, IA 91.7
- Augusta, GA 91.9
- Omaha, NE 91.9
- Fayetteville, NC 92.0
- Winston-Salem, NC 92.0
- Jacksonville, NC 92.1
- Memphis, TN 92.2
- Kansas City, MO 92.5
- Fort Wayne, IN 92.6
- Knoxville, TN 92.6
- New Orleans, LA 92.6
- Dayton, OH 92.7
- Greensboro, NC 92.9
- Lexington, KY 92.9
- Huntsville, AL 93.1
- Louisville, KY 93.1
- Greenville, SC 93.3
- Akron, OH 93.4
- Billings, MT 93.5
- Myrtle Beach, SC 93.6
- Columbia, SC 93.7
- Cleveland, OH 93.9
- Daphne, AL 94.7
- Pittsburgh, PA 94.7
- San Antonio, TX 94.7
- St. Louis, MO 95.1
- Ocala, FL 95.2
- Savannah, GA 95.2
- Cincinnati, OH 95.4
- Albuquerque, NM 95.5
- Columbus, OH 95.5
- Grand Rapids, MI 95.5
- Indianapolis, IN 95.7
- Syracuse, NY 95.7
- Buffalo, NY 95.8
- Nashville, TN 96.3
- Wilmington, NC 96.4
- Asheville, NC 96.5
- Cheyenne, WY 96.5
- Gainesville, FL 96.7
- Milwaukee, WI 96.9
- Tucson, AZ 96.9
- Crestview, FL 97.0
- Rochester, NY 97.0
- Lakeland, FL 97.1
- Charlotte, NC 97.3
- Madison, WI 97.3
- Panama City, FL 97.3
- Durham, NC 97.6
- Pensacola, FL 97.7
- Richmond, VA 97.9
- Virginia Beach, VA 97.9
- Hilton Head Island, SC 98.0
- Austin, TX 98.1
- Provo, UT 98.2
- Raleigh, NC 98.2
- Prescott, AZ 98.3
- Boise, ID 98.4
- Houston, TX 98.6
- Harrisburg, PA 98.7
- Daytona Beach, FL 99.4
- Jacksonville, FL 99.5
- Albany, NY 99.6
- Allentown, PA 100.0
- Palm Bay, FL 100.0
- Atlanta, GA 100.1
- Greeley, CO 100.2
- Las Vegas, NV 100.2
- Port St. Lucie, FL 100.2
- Detroit, MI 100.3
- Ogden, UT 100.3
- Spokane, WA 100.3
- Norwich, CT 100.4
- Punta Gorda, FL 100.5
- Colorado Springs, CO 100.7
- Ann Arbor, MI 100.9
- Bakersfield, CA 100.9
- Burlington, VT 100.9
- Salt Lake City, UT 100.9
- Tampa, FL 100.9
- Charleston, SC 101.0
- Reno, NV 101.0
- Fort Collins, CO 101.1
- Orlando, FL 101.4
- Eugene, OR 101.6
- Providence, RI 101.8
- Portland, ME 101.9
- Fresno, CA 102.2
- Cape Coral, FL 102.3
- Sarasota, FL 102.4
- Worcester, MA 102.5
- Philadelphia, PA 102.6
- Hartford, CT 102.7
- Dallas, TX 103.1
- Naples, FL 103.2
- Trenton, NJ 103.2
- Phoenix, AZ 103.3
- Bend, OR 103.6
- Chicago, IL 103.6
- Olympia, WA 103.7
- Baltimore, MD 104.5
- New Haven, CT 104.6
- Minneapolis, MN 104.8
- Stockton, CA 105.1
- Boulder, CO 105.2
- Anchorage, AK 105.4
- Portland, OR 105.4
- Bremerton, WA 105.6
- Manchester, NH 105.7
- Denver, CO 105.8
- Riverside, CA 106.4
- Sacramento, CA 106.7
- Bridgeport, CT 106.9
- Santa Rosa, CA 107.8
- Boston, MA 108.3
- Vallejo, CA 108.5
- Santa Barbara, CA 108.8
- Washington, D.C. 108.9
- Salinas, CA 109.0
- Poughkeepsie, NY 109.4
- San Jose, CA 110.4
- Oxnard, CA 110.5
- Honolulu, HI 111.0
- Seattle, WA 111.1
- San Diego, CA 111.9
- New York, NY 112.6
- Los Angeles, CA 113.6
- Miami, FL 114.2
- San Francisco, CA 115.6
Compare Baton Rouge with your city
See what you'd need to earn in Baton Rouge to keep your lifestyle, after taxes and local prices. The calculator starts from New Orleans, LA, which sends the most households here of the metros we cover (IRS, 2022–2023), using its median household income as an illustrative single-earner salary. Household income can include several earners and other income; it is not a typical individual wage. Pick your own city, salary and filing status.
Equal salary in Baton Rouge: $58,800
Compare any two of 149 U.S. metro areas. All cities
To keep the same lifestyle, you need about $58,800 in Baton Rouge, LA to match $60,000 in New Orleans, LA ($1,200 less), after 2026 taxes and local prices.
Single filer, W-2 salary. Both are in Louisiana, so state income tax is the same; neither city levies a resident income tax.
Prices and housing cover the metro area; taxes use Louisiana, its principal state. A metro can span several states; living in its other state can change the tax result.
What things cost in Baton Rouge
The vertical line marks the U.S. average (100). BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 for the metropolitan area.
Taxes in Baton Rouge
In this fixed example, one single filer earning a $70,000 W-2 salary keeps $56,360 after 2026 federal tax ($6,570), Social Security and Medicare ($5,355) and Louisiana income tax ($1,715). The salary is rounded from median household income, not an observed individual wage. This example stays fixed when you change the calculator.
Housing
| Measure | Baton Rouge area |
|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,138/mo |
| Median home value | $252,000 |
| Median property tax | $1,406/yr |
| Monthly cost to own the median home (20% down) | $1,684 |
| Median household income | $69,293 |
Climate and jobs in Baton Rouge
In the Baton Rouge area the average January low is 42°F and the average July high 92°F, and the area has about 96 days a year at 90°F or hotter. Unemployment averaged 4.1% in 2025, below the U.S. rate (4.3%), and the median wage across all jobs was $48,710 a year, 4% below the U.S. median.
| Climate | 1991–2020 average |
|---|---|
| January low | 42°F |
| July high | 92°F |
| Days 90°F or hotter | 96 a year |
| Precipitation | 62 in a year |
| Snowfall | 0.2 in a year |
| Jobs and pay | Metro area | U.S. |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate, 2025 average | 4.1% | 4.3% |
| Median wage, all jobs (May 2025) | $48,710 | $50,980 |
| Wage and salary jobs (May 2025) | 409,690 | 155.5 million |
Climate: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020 averages at the Baton Rouge Ryan Airport station (USW00013970). Weather varies across a metro area, especially with elevation and distance from the coast. Jobs: unemployment from BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics; wages and job counts from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, which count wage and salary jobs, not the self-employed; wages are before taxes. The 2025 average covers 11 months: October 2025 data were not collected during the federal government shutdown.
Retiring in Baton Rouge
Our modeled retiree budget is about $2,896 a month here with a home owned outright, or $3,429 renting. It uses spending benchmarks for households with a reference person age 65 or older (BLS 2024), adjusted for local prices. These are household-based estimates, not observed spending by a single retiree in Baton Rouge. See where your budget goes furthest.
Where people move to and from Baton Rouge
IRS county-to-county migration data, 2022–2023, aggregated to the 149 metro areas we cover.
Natural hazard risk
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores for the Baton Rouge area is 89.3 of 100 (very high county-score mean), with modeled expected losses of about $756 per resident per year. A mean of county percentiles is not an official FEMA metro rating or a national metro percentile. It describes the counties in the metro; your property's risk can differ. Disaster risk by county in Louisiana.
The vertical line marks county-score scale midpoint (50).
Frequently asked questions
What salary do you need to live in Baton Rouge?
In a fixed single-filer W-2 example living inside the principal city, about $69,400 in Baton Rouge matches the buying power of $75,000 in an average-priced area with no state income tax. The example uses 2026 federal taxes, Louisiana state taxes and modeled resident local taxes where applicable. It stays fixed when calculator inputs change. Renting the median home at 30% of income takes $45,520, and buying the median home with 20% down takes about $72,160.
Is Baton Rouge expensive?
The Baton Rouge metro area's price level is 90.8 (U.S. = 100), #138 of the 149 metro areas we cover, from most to least expensive. Its housing rents price index is 74.2, 26% below the U.S. average.
Are people moving to Baton Rouge?
Counting moves to and from the other 148 metro areas we cover, Baton Rouge had a net loss of about 953 households in 2022–2023 (IRS county migration data).
What is the weather like in Baton Rouge?
In NOAA's 1991–2020 climate normals for the Baton Rouge area (Baton Rouge Ryan Airport weather station), the average January low is 42°F and the average July high 92°F. The area has about 96 days a year at 90°F or hotter and gets 62 inches of precipitation a year and almost no snow.
What are jobs and pay like in Baton Rouge?
The Baton Rouge metro area's unemployment rate averaged 4.1% in 2025, below the U.S. rate (4.3%). The median wage across all jobs was $48,710 a year in May 2025, 4% below the U.S. median of $50,980 (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
What natural disasters affect Baton Rouge?
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores is 89.3 out of 100 (very high county-score mean). This is not an official FEMA metro rating or a national metro percentile. The highest county-score means by hazard are hurricane, tornado, heat wave.
Compare Baton Rouge with other cities
Moving from Baton Rouge to…
Moving to Baton Rouge from…
Cities with similar prices
- Clarksville, TN 90.9
- Fargo, ND 90.9
- Sioux Falls, SD 90.6
- Killeen, TX 91.1
- Spartanburg, SC 91.1
- Oklahoma City, OK 90.4
- Moving from Louisiana
State-agency links identify the responsible tax office; they do not verify every modeled rule. Use forms and guidance for the year you are filing.