Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Bethesda's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Bethesda?
Your $100,000 in Bethesda has the same purchasing power as $80,205 in the average US city. You'd need $19,795 more here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Bethesda's cost index of 125, sorted by closest match.
Wondering whether you should move to Bethesda? It depends on what you're optimizing for, but the city has real arguments in its favor: a high-income city, even by us standards and the labor market runs tight, plus 3 more things worth knowing. The data behind each is below.
Median household income in Bethesda is $185,546 — well above the US median of roughly $75k. It's a city where high-paying industries (tech, finance, professional services) cluster, and the income distribution tilts noticeably upward relative to most of the country.
The unemployment rate in Bethesda sits at roughly 3.2%, which is a tight labor market by US standards. Salaries get nudged up faster, openings are easier to find, and switching jobs is less of a leap than it is in a softer market.
Bethesda reports roughly -24 crime incidents per 100,000 residents, well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. As always, citywide numbers paper over real differences between neighborhoods — but the broader trend here is on the calmer end of the US distribution.
Bethesda's air quality index averages about 38 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
88% of adults 25 and over in Bethesda hold a bachelor's degree or higher — meaningfully above the US average of around 36%. That correlates with the things you'd expect: stronger schools, more white-collar employers, more bookstores than the population alone would predict.
Reasons are pulled from Bethesda's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Bethesda gets a handful of meaningful snow days each year. Winters average about 32°F — cold enough for several inches at a time, warm enough for everything to melt between storms.
Cold but workable. Winter in Bethesda averages about 32°F — colder than the national norm, mild compared to the upper Midwest. A solid coat handles most days; the genuine cold snaps are short.
Hot, but not desert-hot. Summer in Bethesda runs about 88°F on average, with afternoons in the 90s and humidity that varies by region. AC is standard rather than optional.
Bethesda falls in roughly USDA Zone 8. The zone classification is based on average annual minimum temperatures, so it's the right lookup for whether perennials and trees will overwinter here. Note that this is approximate from our winter-temperature data — check the USDA map for the exact zone before betting an expensive plant on it.
Bethesda sits at about 354 feet (108 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Hurricane season covers June through November, with peak activity in late summer and early fall. For Bethesda, the practical advice is: have a few days of water and supplies on hand from August onward, know your evacuation route, and don't wait for the news to tell you a storm is "probably nothing" — track the cone yourself.
By the numbers, yes. Bethesda reports roughly -24 crime incidents per 100,000 residents — well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. The big caveat applies as always: every city has neighborhoods that look nothing like the citywide average. But the citywide average here is genuinely good.
Yes, noticeably. Bethesda's cost-of-living index runs 125, about 25% above the US baseline. Housing usually accounts for most of the markup; groceries and services run higher too but with less drama.
Not really — Bethesda is built around the car. Its Walk Score of 18 out of 100 means almost every errand is a drive. Transit Score is 37 out of 100. Living without a car is technically possible but real work; most residents wouldn't try it.
Roughly $87,276 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Bethesda runs about $2,312/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.