2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Albany, CA vs Columbia, MD

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Columbia or is it cheaper to live in Albany?
- Columbia is 34.6% less expensive than Albany.

Which city has more affordable housing, Columbia or Albany?
- Columbia housing costs are 67.3% less expensive than Albany housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Albany or is Health Care more affordable in Columbia.
- Health related expenses are 25.9% less in Columbia.
 Albany, CAColumbia, MDUnited States
 Overall  Unlock127.9100
 Food & Groceries112.6  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock86.5100
 Housing437.6  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$441,800$338,100
 Utilities91  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock107.9100
 Miscellaneous159.2  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Albany    4 Reviews

Albany is one of the best places to live not only in California but the USA. Niche 2023 has ranked Albany the number one suburb in California and is consistently in the  More

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Over 13 years ago

Like many places in the Bay Area, there are some mixed-race couples and gay couples in Albany. What is really striking, though, is the number of families where both  More

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Albany was originally built as a railroad workers' town. So the bad news is that nearly every house was originally two, or at most three, bedrooms with one bath, about  More

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Reviews for Columbia    28 Reviews

Over 5 years ago

Lived here for a while, beautiful opportunities, pays well, overall nice  More

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Been here 30 years was great at first but once they added a transit bus from baltimore to columbia 15-18 years ago that was the beginning of the end. And about 5 years  More

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Columbia can be described in one word: unequal. The neighborhood I live in, River Hill, is jam-packed with almost million-dollar homes, while the neighborhoods of Long  More

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