Cost Of Living in Ocean City, MD

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C

15%

Overall NAT. AVG.

2%

Goods & Services NAT. AVG.

46%

Housing NAT. AVG.

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2025 and was released from C2ER in January, 2026; 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	Ocean City	Maryland	National
Cost of living	115	120	100
Goods & Services	102	108	100
Groceries	101	106	100
Health care	111	106	100
Housing	146	151	100
Transportation	104	100	100
Utilities	96	114	100

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Homes For Sale In Ocean City, MD

111 100th St #107

Ocean City, MD

13905 Lighthouse Ave

Ocean City, MD

LOT#2 Exeter Rd

West Ocean City, MD

160 Clam Shell Rd

Ocean City, MD

Cost Of Living Quick Facts

The cost of living in Ocean City is 5% lower than the Maryland average
The cost of living in Ocean City is 15% higher than the national average
Ocean City housing is 46% higher than the national average
Maryland general sales tax is 18% higher than the national average
Maryland state income tax is 23% 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	$93,092	$7,758	$2,172	$2,793
Renters	$76,348	$6,362	$1,781	$2,291

A good way to judge both the affordability of the housing and the cost of living in Ocean City 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. Ocean City has a median income of about $93,092 for people who own homes. Based on that number, a maximum of $2,172 should be spent on expenses related to housing. Renters have a slightly different median income, which is $76,348. Based on this average, renters should spend no more than $1,781 on all rental costs if they want to maintain a non-impoverished standard of living.

Maryland Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Maryland	6%	6%

Maryland Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Maryland	2%	5.75%

Goods & Services

Item	Ocean City	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$32.30	$27.62	17.0%
Beauty Salon	$49.77	$51.11	2.6%
Toothpaste	$4.13	$4.09	0.9%
Shampoo	$1.58	$1.54	2.5%
Movie	$13.86	$12.88	7.6%
Yoga	$26.67	$19.66	35.6%

Groceries

Item	Ocean City	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$7.84	$7.70	1.8%
Fried Chicken	$1.56	$1.66	6.2%
Milk	$4.77	$4.73	0.8%
Potatoes	$5.38	$5.26	2.4%
Pizza	$11.99	$12.76	6.1%
Beer	$10.89	$10.55	3.2%

Health Care

Item	Ocean City	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$145.14	$140.06	3.6%
Doctor	$205.88	$153.82	33.8%
Dentist	$145.17	$123.15	17.9%
Ibuprofen	$12.06	$11.73	2.8%
Lipitor	$17.53	$23.61	25.8%

Housing

Item	Ocean City	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$519,950.00	$326,622.00	59.2%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$2,689.98	$2,480.25	8.5%
Apartment Rent	$1,646.00	$1,444.00	14.0%

Transportation

Item	Ocean City	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.16	$3.06	3.3%
Tire Balancing	$67.94	$65.21	4.2%

Utilities

Item	Ocean City	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$209.27	$220.12	4.9%
Phone	$189.07	$195.71	3.4%

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.
Whaleyville, MD	50	102	1.7%
Willards, MD	1,061	98	1.9%
Frankford, DE	731	102	1.6%
Dagsboro, DE	1,064	107	7.4%
Berlin, MD	4,920	108	8.2%
Ocean City, MD	7,122	115	14.9%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Treasure Island, FL	7,118	128	28.1%
Perry, FL	7,127	87	13.2%
Greenbrier, TN	7,131	102	2.0%
Mount Carmel, IL	7,112	86	13.9%
Benton, IL	7,133	86	14.1%
Ocean City, MD	7,122	115	14.9%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2025 and was released from C2ER in January, 2026; this is the most current data available.

Cost of Living in Ocean City, MD

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Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

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Goods & Services

Groceries

Health Care

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Transportation

Utilities

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