Albuquerque, New Mexico Cost Of Living

A-

5%

Overall NAT. AVG.

5%

Goods & Services NAT. AVG.

4%

Housing NAT. AVG.

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2023 and was released from C2ER in January, 2023; this is the most current data available.

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Albuquerque	New Mexico	National
Cost of living	95	93	100
Goods & Services	95	95	100
Groceries	98	100	100
Health care	91	98	100
Housing	96	86	100
Transportation	93	97	100
Utilities	92	89	100

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Cost Of Living Quick Facts

The cost of living in Albuquerque is 2% higher than the New Mexico average
The cost of living in Albuquerque is 5% lower than the national average
Albuquerque housing is 4% lower than the national average
New Mexico general sales tax is 2% lower than the national average
New Mexico state income tax is 25% lower than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$71,164	$5,930	$1,660	$2,135
Renters	$33,453	$2,788	$781	$1,004

A good way to judge both the affordability of the housing and the cost of living in Albuquerque is by simply calculating the maximum that should be spent on housing, otherwise known as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The plan is to avoid spending more than 28 percent of the gross income on costs that pertain to housing and no more than 36 percent on all expenses and debts. Albuquerque has a median income of about $71,164 for people who own homes. Based on that number, a maximum of $1,660 should be spent on expenses related to housing. Renters have a slightly different median income, which is $33,453. Based on this average, renters should spend no more than $781 on all rental costs if they want to maintain a non-impoverished standard of living.

New Mexico Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
New Mexico	5%	8.688%

New Mexico Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
New Mexico	1.7%	5.9%

Goods & Services

Item	Albuquerque	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$30.61	$22.08	38.6%
Beauty Salon	$45.00	$42.88	4.9%
Toothpaste	$2.95	$2.57	15.0%
Shampoo	$1.10	$1.15	4.6%
Movie	$11.37	$11.51	1.2%
Bowling	$19.25	$16.62	15.8%

Groceries

Item	Albuquerque	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$5.94	$4.98	19.3%
Fried Chicken	$1.01	$1.58	36.2%
Milk	$2.29	$2.42	5.5%
Potatoes	$3.24	$3.54	8.3%
Pizza	$11.16	$11.49	2.9%
Beer	$9.85	$10.04	1.9%

Health Care

Item	Albuquerque	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$123.65	$117.76	5.0%
Doctor	$114.36	$125.34	8.8%
Dentist	$105.38	$107.52	2.0%
Ibuprofen	$9.70	$10.26	5.4%
Lipitor	$324.33	$459.24	29.4%

Housing

Item	Albuquerque	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$204,100.00	$184,700.00	10.5%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,533.09	$1,697.41	9.7%
Apartment Rent	$889.00	$949.00	6.3%

Transportation

Item	Albuquerque	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.81	$3.85	1.0%
Tire Balancing	$46.05	$57.01	19.2%

Utilities

Item	Albuquerque	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$150.93	$177.27	14.9%
Phone	$191.37	$189.62	0.9%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
San Antonito CDP (Socorro County), NM	33	95	5.2%
Pajarito Mesa, NM	310	95	5.2%
Monterey Park, NM	1,097	73	26.7%
Isleta Village Proper, NM	489	81	19.4%
Pueblo of Sandia Village, NM	554	85	14.8%
Albuquerque, NM	560,447	95	4.9%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Surrey, BC	560,150	n/a
Québec, QC	548,244	n/a
Tucson, AZ	545,340	94	5.6%
Milwaukee, WI	592,649	90	9.8%
Fresno, CA	526,147	108	7.9%
Albuquerque, NM	560,447	95	4.9%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2023 and was released from C2ER in January, 2023; this is the most current data available.