Cost of Living

Anchorage vs Hialeah Cost of Living

Hialeah is approximately 12.5% cheaper than Anchorage. See salary equivalence, taxes, and side-by-side breakdown.

Anchorage, AK

1.20×
cost-of-living index (1.00 = US average)
State
Alaska
State income tax
None
City local income tax
None
Housing index (est.)
Typically 1.5–2× higher than overall index
1.06×
Food/groceries index
0.95×
Transport index
0.98×

Hialeah, FL

1.05×
lower cost than Anchorage
State
Florida
State income tax
None
City local income tax
None
Housing index (est.)
0.79×
Food/groceries index
0.88×
Transport index
0.92×
Salary equivalence — to maintain the same lifestyle moving from Anchorage to Hialeah
Salary in AnchorageEquivalent in HialeahDifference
$50,000$43,800-$6,200 (-12.4%)
$75,000$65,600-$9,400 (-12.5%)
$100,000$87,500-$12,500 (-12.5%)
$150,000$131,300-$18,700 (-12.5%)
$200,000$175,000-$25,000 (-12.5%)
Moving to Hialeah? Your Anchorage salary stretches further — you can lifestyle up or save the difference.

Anchorage is roughly 12% more expensive overall, and housing is doing almost all of the work: a one-bedroom runs $1,300 in Anchorage against $1,650 in Hialeah.

Housing does most of the damage

Housing is the reason two metros differ at all. Everything else — groceries, a haircut, a phone plan — varies far less than rent does. A one-bedroom runs about $1,300 a month in Anchorage and $1,650 in Hialeah — $350 a month apart, or $4,200 a year.

Getting around

Anchorage is effectively car-dependent; Hialeah is served by limited transit.

Work, weather, and what else is different

Anchorage is a small metro of about 0.4M and losing population; Hialeah is a small metro of about 0.2M and roughly flat.

Both metros have real employment in healthcare, which matters if you want to move without changing careers — your experience is legible to employers in both. Anchorage also leans on military and oil and gas administration, with employers like Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Providence Alaska Medical Center. Hialeah leans on manufacturing and logistics, with Amerijet International and Hialeah Hospital.

Climate belongs in the comparison, not as a footnote. Anchorage: Subarctic: January highs near 22°F/lows 9°F, July highs near 65°F/lows 52°F, with roughly 6 hours of daylight in December vs 19+ in June. Hialeah: January highs near 76°F/lows near 60°F, mild and dry; July highs near 90°F/lows near 76°F, hot and very humid.

No state income tax and no state sales tax; residents also receive an annual Permanent Fund Dividend (roughly $1,000-1,700/year), which no other state offers. No state income tax in Florida; one of the highest concentrations of Cuban and Cuban-American residents in the US (over 70% of the population), with Spanish as the predominant daily language.

The index behind the headline ratio is BEA Regional Price Parity data; rents and home prices are market figures, and tax rates are as published by each state and city. How these are compiled and updated.

Related tools

Paycheck calculator — take-home after federal, state and local tax. Salary calculator — hourly and annual conversion. Mortgage calculator — what a home in either metro actually costs monthly. Guide: the true cost of relocating.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Hialeah more expensive than Anchorage?
No — Hialeah runs about 12% cheaper overall. Most of that is housing: $1,300 versus $1,650 for a one-bedroom, and $380,000 versus $420,000 to buy.
What salary do I need in Hialeah to match $100,000 in Anchorage?
Roughly $87,500 on a pure cost-of-living basis. That figure ignores taxes, though. Run both through a paycheck calculator before treating it as your number.
How accurate are these comparisons?
Close enough to compare two cities, not close enough to budget with. Within either metro the spread between neighborhoods is usually wider than the spread between the metros themselves — pull actual listings before committing to a number.