ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland’s housing costs and limited supply are pushing more residents to lower-cost states, according to a report released in October 2025 by the Office of the Comptroller that links affordability to outmigration and slower economic growth.
Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman[D] called stable, affordable housing essential to the state’s long-term health.
“When people can’t afford to live here, they leave,” she said, noting ripple effects on communities, employers, and state revenues.
The report says Maryland ranked among the top states for net domestic outmigration from 2022 to 2024. Trends show that Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Delaware were the largest migration destinations, while Maryland drew in residents from Washington, D.C., New York, and New Jersey.
Since 2020, more younger and middle-income households have been moving out—an indicator, the report says, that housing costs are a growing driver.
Affordability is the pinch point.
Maryland’s median rent is $1,721, and the average wage statewide trails the “housing wage” needed to afford a typical two-bedroom apartment. The report places the state’s median home value at $446,400 and notes that, apart from sale price, median monthly homeowner costs—a Census measure that can include mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities, and fees—are higher in Maryland compared to states attracting former Marylanders.
From 2000 to 2022, the share of households able to afford the median-priced home fell from roughly three-quarters to under half.
On the supply side, the Comptroller’s office estimates a current shortfall of about 100,000 homes and says Maryland needs roughly 590,000 additional units by 2045 to meet demand. Hitting that target would require close to 30,000 permits a year. Since 2014, Maryland has averaged about 18,000—well below faster-growing states on a per-household basis.
Cost pressures include higher construction inputs and a heavier regulatory burden. The report cites rising material and labor costs since 2019 and says Maryland ranks among the most regulated states for residential development. Local density limits, parking minimums, impact fees and lengthy approvals add time and expense to projects.
The findings drew quick reaction from Republicans. Del. Matt Morgan [R–St. Mary’s], pointed to the Comptroller’s comparisons to argue that monthly homeowner expenses are higher in Maryland than in Virginia. In a social-media post, he said a median-priced home in Maryland is nearly $20,000 less than in Virginia, yet “the Maryland homeowner pays $240 more each month,” which he attributed to “higher taxes and utility costs.” His comparison relied on median values and “selected monthly owner costs,” which vary by mortgage rate, down payment, and county.
A spokesperson for the Comptroller’s office emphasized the report’s broader takeaway: closing the affordability gap will require adding supply and reducing the time and cost of approvals statewide.
Lierman recently hosted a public discussion with Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day to walk through the findings and how housing affordability connects to broader economic performance. The event, part of the office’s “State of the Economy” series, took place October 16 at the Louis L. Goldstein Treasury Building.
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This isn’t something new, this has been going on for many years, I moved to Kentucky from southern Maryland because I couldn’t buy a home there even making 7
$72,000 a year, I make the same money in Kentucky and bought a 2100 square foot home on 13 acres for $270,000. That same home in southern Maryland would cost over $700,000. The income in Maryland does not match the cost of living there. People are leaving because they’ve had enough
Just look at the cost of renewing vehicle registration there now, only thing that’s doing is causing more Virginia plates to show up in maryland
Yeah, it’s the housing shortage. It couldn’t possibly the tax burden that the Moore admin has dumped on all of us. (sarcasm)
Why? Because y’all just won’t learn to STOP voting for dems… Remember: Moore is less…
Emigration… The word you were looking for was emigration which is the opposite of immigration.
“Maryland’s housing costs and limited supply are pushing more residents to lower-cost states”
Shouldn’t that read:
“Maryland’s Governor and his ever increasing taxes and fees are pushing more residents to lower-cost states”
Please don’t patronize us! Housing costs are the least of the reasons people are leaving Maryland. Taxes, outrageous increases in the costs of registering our cars/trucks and a governor who took a sizeable surplus, spent it all so we are now in the red are the reasons people are leaving.