MARYLAND (WBFF) — Gayle Short has lived in the same Baltimore house since March 1979.
It is the house where she raised her children, and their photos still line the walls. The house where birthdays were celebrated, groceries were carried through the front door and decades of ordinary life unfolded in her Hamilton neighborhood.
Now, after more than 40 years, she is preparing to leave it behind.
“I guess family is the deciding factor for me,” Short said. “Pricing is definitely ridiculous.”
Her decision comes as Maryland faces growing concerns about affordability, housing costs and residents leaving the state in search of cheaper places to live. Maryland’s comptroller has described the state as facing a “housing crisis,” warning that younger residents and middle-income families are increasingly struggling to stay.
The comptroller reports 127,000 residents left Maryland for other states between 2021 and 2023. Another 18,000 left from July 2023 to July 2024. Some of the most popular states people are heading off to are Pennsylvania, Delaware, Florida and North Carolina.
For Short’s family, that trend has already stretched across generations. Her son moved to Pennsylvania years ago, seeking a larger and more affordable home. Her daughter later relocated to New Hampshire, where she says lower taxes and housing costs made homeownership more realistic. Now Short is preparing to follow part of her family out of Maryland herself.
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From Maryland to New Hampshire
Jessica Calabria, Short’s daughter, still follows Baltimore closely from New Hampshire. During a virtual interview with Spotlight on Maryland last week, she wore a Baltimore Ravens shirt and a Ravens blanket hung over her chair.
“Baltimore was a big city with a small-town feel,” she said.
Calabria grew up in Hamilton and said her first job was delivering newspapers for The Baltimore Sun.
Despite moving away, she said her connection to Baltimore remains strong.
“Baltimore is one of the most amazing places you could ever live if we can get rid of things that don’t have to be the way they are,” Calabria said.
When asked what she believes needs to change, she pointed to taxes.
“The biggest thing that is the nail in the coffin that just starts all the other dominoes falling is the taxes,” Calabria said.
She said affordability made it difficult to stay in Maryland. Calabria moved in and out of the state after graduating high school in 1992, but left again in 2018 when her wife’s job brought them to New Hampshire.
There, she said, they were able to buy far more house than they could have afforded in Maryland.
“I was able to spend $191,000 on a 2,700-square-foot house with over 3 acres of land,” she said. “In Baltimore, I’ve been able maybe to get a row home that needed repairs or on some of the farther out places in Maryland.”
Even with a property tax bill of about $4,700 last year, Calabria said the overall cost of living remains lower. New Hampshire does not have a state income tax or sales tax.
“Just between those two is insane savings,” she said. “We save over $500 a month just in taxes.”
Calabria believes taxes are a major reason Maryland residents are leaving. “The taxes raise everything into the snowball effect and you’re losing your taxpayers.”
Now the same calculation is affecting her mother.
ALSO READ | Lifelong Baltimore resident plans to leave Maryland as out-migration trend grows
From Maryland to Pennsylvania
Short said everyday expenses have become harder to manage.
“Prices of things — housing, you go to the grocery store,” she said. “I think it’s gotten very unaffordable to live in Maryland.”
She plans to move to Pennsylvania to be closer to her son, Gene Short, who moved to York County in 2007 in search of more space for his growing family.
Housing data reflects the difference families are weighing. Realtor.com data from March showed median home prices in Pennsylvania around $300,000, compared to roughly $417,000 in Maryland.
Gayle Short hopes to sell her Baltimore home for about $250,000.
“We wanted to stay in Maryland but ended up moving to Pennsylvania,” Gene Short said of his family’s move nearly 20 years ago.
Part of the reason, he said, was affordability.
“I’m very happy with the decision I made,” he said.
Spotlight on Maryland is a collaboration between FOX45 News, WJLA in Washington, D.C., and The Baltimore Sun. Have a story tip? Email spotlightonmaryland@sbgtv.com or call 410-467-4670. Investigative reporter Tessa Bentulan can be reached at tbentulan@sbgtv.com.
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