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City cost of living 2026

Cost of living in Rochester, NY

The Rochester, NY metro area (1,057,218 people) ranks #86 of 149 for prices among the U.S. metro areas we cover. Here's what it costs to live there.

By Data reviewed Data: Census ACS, BEA, BLS, NOAA, IRS, FEMA (methodology)

New York, NY: price level 112.6Los Angeles, CA: price level 113.6Chicago, IL: price level 103.6Dallas, TX: price level 103.1Houston, TX: price level 98.6Miami, FL: price level 114.2Washington, D.C.: price level 108.9Atlanta, GA: price level 100.1Philadelphia, PA: price level 102.6Phoenix, AZ: price level 103.3Boston, MA: price level 108.3Riverside, CA: price level 106.4San Francisco, CA: price level 115.6Detroit, MI: price level 100.3Seattle, WA: price level 111.1Minneapolis, MN: price level 104.8Tampa, FL: price level 100.9San Diego, CA: price level 111.9Denver, CO: price level 105.8Orlando, FL: price level 101.4Charlotte, NC: price level 97.3Baltimore, MD: price level 104.5St. Louis, MO: price level 95.1San Antonio, TX: price level 94.7Austin, TX: price level 98.1Portland, OR: price level 105.4Sacramento, CA: price level 106.7Pittsburgh, PA: price level 94.7Las Vegas, NV: price level 100.2Cincinnati, OH: price level 95.4Kansas City, MO: price level 92.5Columbus, OH: price level 95.5Indianapolis, IN: price level 95.7Cleveland, OH: price level 93.9Nashville, TN: price level 96.3San Jose, CA: price level 110.4Virginia Beach, VA: price level 97.9Jacksonville, FL: price level 99.5Providence, RI: price level 101.8Milwaukee, WI: price level 96.9Raleigh, NC: price level 98.2Oklahoma City, OK: price level 90.4Louisville, KY: price level 93.1Richmond, VA: price level 97.9Memphis, TN: price level 92.2Salt Lake City, UT: price level 100.9Birmingham, AL: price level 91.6Fresno, CA: price level 102.2Grand Rapids, MI: price level 95.5Hartford, CT: price level 102.7Buffalo, NY: price level 95.8Tucson, AZ: price level 96.9Tulsa, OK: price level 89.2Rochester, NY: price level 97.0Omaha, NE: price level 91.9Honolulu, HI: price level 111.0Greenville, SC: price level 93.3Bridgeport, CT: price level 106.9New Orleans, LA: price level 92.6Knoxville, TN: price level 92.6Sarasota, FL: price level 102.4Albuquerque, NM: price level 95.5Bakersfield, CA: price level 100.9McAllen, TX: price level 85.9Albany, NY: price level 99.6Allentown, PA: price level 100.0Baton Rouge, LA: price level 90.8Worcester, MA: price level 102.5El Paso, TX: price level 89.9Columbia, SC: price level 93.7Charleston, SC: price level 101.0Cape Coral, FL: price level 102.3Lakeland, FL: price level 97.1Boise, ID: price level 98.4Oxnard, CA: price level 110.5Dayton, OH: price level 92.7Stockton, CA: price level 105.1Greensboro, NC: price level 92.9Colorado Springs, CO: price level 100.7Little Rock, AR: price level 89.4Provo, UT: price level 98.2Des Moines, IA: price level 91.7Daytona Beach, FL: price level 99.4Poughkeepsie, NY: price level 109.4Madison, WI: price level 97.3Winston-Salem, NC: price level 92.0Akron, OH: price level 93.4Ogden, UT: price level 100.3Wichita, KS: price level 88.9Palm Bay, FL: price level 100.0Syracuse, NY: price level 95.7Augusta, GA: price level 91.9Durham, NC: price level 97.6Harrisburg, PA: price level 98.7Jackson, MS: price level 89.0Fayetteville, AR: price level 91.4Spokane, WA: price level 100.3Toledo, OH: price level 91.5Chattanooga, TN: price level 91.5New Haven, CT: price level 104.6Reno, NV: price level 101.0Portland, ME: price level 101.9Port St. Lucie, FL: price level 100.2Huntsville, AL: price level 93.1Pensacola, FL: price level 97.7Lexington, KY: price level 92.9Killeen, TX: price level 91.1Springfield, MO: price level 88.6Santa Rosa, CA: price level 107.8Wilmington, NC: price level 96.4Fort Wayne, IN: price level 92.6Vallejo, CA: price level 108.5Santa Barbara, CA: price level 108.8Salinas, CA: price level 109.0Savannah, GA: price level 95.2Manchester, NH: price level 105.7Ocala, FL: price level 95.2Asheville, NC: price level 96.5Naples, FL: price level 103.2Myrtle Beach, SC: price level 93.6Anchorage, AK: price level 105.4Spartanburg, SC: price level 91.1Fayetteville, NC: price level 92.0Trenton, NJ: price level 103.2Eugene, OR: price level 101.6Fort Collins, CO: price level 101.1Ann Arbor, MI: price level 100.9Greeley, CO: price level 100.2Gainesville, FL: price level 96.7Clarksville, TN: price level 90.9Boulder, CO: price level 105.2Columbus, GA: price level 89.3Crestview, FL: price level 97.0Sioux Falls, SD: price level 90.6Olympia, WA: price level 103.7Norwich, CT: price level 100.4Bremerton, WA: price level 105.6Fargo, ND: price level 90.9Bend, OR: price level 103.6Daphne, AL: price level 94.7Prescott, AZ: price level 98.3Hilton Head Island, SC: price level 98.0Burlington, VT: price level 100.9Panama City, FL: price level 97.3Jacksonville, NC: price level 92.1Punta Gorda, FL: price level 100.5Billings, MT: price level 93.5The Villages, FL: price level 85.4Cheyenne, WY: price level 96.5

Hover over or tap a dot to see its value.

Price level of the 149 metros we cover
See all 149 cities

Price level, from cheaper to pricier.

Salary to match $75k
$78,000
vs. an average-priced, no-income-tax area
Median rent
$1,172
per month · need $46,880 income
Median home
$234,100
need about $76,826 to buy

Compare Rochester with your city

See what you'd need to earn in Rochester to keep your lifestyle, after taxes and local prices. The calculator starts from Buffalo, NY, which sends the most households here of the metros we cover (IRS, 2022–2023), at about its median household income. Pick your own city and salary.

Equal salary in Rochester: $71,100

Compare any two of 149 U.S. metro areas. All cities

To keep the same lifestyle, you need about $71,100 in Rochester, NY to match $70,000 in Buffalo, NY ($1,100 more), after 2026 taxes and local prices.

Single filer, W-2 salary. Both are in New York, so state income tax is the same; neither city levies a resident income tax.

Take-home in Buffalo
$54,590
22.0% total tax
Take-home in Rochester
$54,590
22.0% total tax
Prices in Rochester
+1.3%
vs Buffalo (BEA 2024)
Renting: change after selected costs
-$696
per year, after taxes, rent and power; excludes food, transport, healthcare, child care and moving costs

What things cost in Rochester

Price level by category (U.S. = 100)
Below the U.S. average Above the U.S. average At the U.S. average
Overall97.0
Housing87.5
Goods99.7
Utilities133.2
Other services97.8

The vertical line marks the U.S. average (100). BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 for the metropolitan area.

Taxes in Rochester

On a $75,000 salary (about the area's median household income), a single filer keeps $57,816 after 2026 federal tax ($7,670), Social Security and Medicare ($5,738) and New York income tax ($3,453), plus $324 in state payroll programs.

Housing

MeasureRochester area
Median rent$1,172/mo
Median home value$234,100
Median property tax$5,313/yr
Monthly cost to own the median home (20% down)$1,793
Median household income$76,453

Climate and jobs in Rochester

In the Rochester area the average January low is 19°F and the average July high 83°F, and the area has about 8 days a year at 90°F or hotter. Unemployment averaged 3.7% in 2025, below the U.S. rate (4.3%), and the median wage across all jobs was $51,210 a year, about the same as the U.S. median.

Climate in the Rochester area: NOAA 1991–2020 normals
Climate1991–2020 average
January low19°F
July high83°F
Days 90°F or hotter8 a year
Precipitation35 in a year
Snowfall102 in a year
Jobs and pay in the Rochester area compared with the U.S. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Jobs and payMetro areaU.S.
Unemployment rate, 2025 average3.7%4.3%
Median wage, all jobs (May 2025)$51,210$50,980
Wage and salary jobs (May 2025)494,280155.5 million

Climate: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020 averages at the Rochester Greater International Airport station (USW00014768). 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 Rochester

A single retiree spends about $3,433 a month here if they own their home outright, or $3,870 renting, based on typical spending for households 65 and older (BLS 2024) adjusted for local prices. See where your budget goes furthest.

Where people move to and from Rochester

Leaving Rochester for… (households)
Buffalo940
New York799
Syracuse462
Boston329
Tampa286
Washington, D.C.263
Charlotte225
Orlando200
Moving to Rochester from… (households)
Buffalo997
New York955
Syracuse507
Boston222
Albany186
Tampa153
Los Angeles140
Miami138

IRS county-to-county migration data, 2022–2023, aggregated to the 149 metro areas we cover.

Natural hazard risk

FEMA rates the Rochester area among the highest for natural hazard risk (score 82.3 of 100), with expected losses of about $199 per resident per year. Disaster risk by county in New York.

Highest relative risks (national percentile)
Higher risk than most U.S. counties
Riverine flooding89
Ice storm84
Heat wave80
Cold wave77
Winter weather76

The vertical line marks the middle of U.S. counties (50).

Frequently asked questions

What salary do you need to live in Rochester?

To match the buying power of $75,000 in an average-priced area with no state income tax, you need about $78,000 in Rochester. Renting the median home at 30% of income takes $46,880, and buying the median home with 20% down takes about $76,826.

Is Rochester expensive?

The Rochester metro area's price level is 97.0 (U.S. = 100), #86 of the 149 metro areas we cover, from most to least expensive. Its housing price index is 87.5, 13% below the U.S. average.

Are people moving to Rochester?

Counting moves to and from the other 148 metro areas we cover, Rochester had a net loss of about 2,014 households in 2022–2023 (IRS county migration data).

What is the weather like in Rochester?

In NOAA's 1991–2020 climate normals for the Rochester area (Rochester Greater International Airport weather station), the average January low is 19°F and the average July high 83°F. The area has about 8 days a year at 90°F or hotter and gets 35 inches of precipitation a year and about 102 inches of snow.

What are jobs and pay like in Rochester?

The Rochester metro area's unemployment rate averaged 3.7% in 2025, below the U.S. rate (4.3%). The median wage across all jobs was $51,210 a year in May 2025, about the same as the U.S. median of $50,980 (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

What natural disasters affect Rochester?

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the area among the highest overall (score 82.3). The highest relative risks are riverine flooding, ice storm, heat wave.

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