Overall
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers
- 102.3
- Medford
- 101.4
Diff -0.9 RPP
Cape Coral-Fort Myers vs Medford
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Medford is 0.9% less expensive than Cape Coral-Fort Myers.
0.9% less expensive
Medford, OR is 0.9% less expensive than Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 101.4 vs 102.3). A $100,000 salary in Cape Coral-Fort Myers buys about the same as $99,105 in Medford; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 102.3 (Cape Coral-Fort Myers) vs 101.4 (Medford)
- $100k in Cape Coral-Fort Myers ≈ $99,105 purchasing power in Medford
- Rents drives the gap (-27.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:OR 102.3→101.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE FL × OR
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Cape Coral-Fort Myers
102.3
Cost Index
Medford
101.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL and Medford, OR are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.9 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Medford is 27.5 points lower. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Cape Coral-Fort Myers corresponds to $99,105 in Medford.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Medford
- 105.3
Diff +9.0 RPP
Services
- Medford
- 102.3
Diff +15.4 RPP
Rents
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers
- 125.1
- Medford
- 97.7
Diff -27.5 RPP
| Category | Cape Coral-Fort Myers | Medford | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 102.3 | 101.4 | -0.9 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 105.3 | +9.0 |
| Services | 86.9 | 102.3 | +15.4 |
| Rents | 125.1 | 97.7 | -27.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 102.3
Medford 101.4
Goods
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 96.2
Medford 105.3
Services
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 86.9
Medford 102.3
Rents
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 125.1
Medford 97.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Medford share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.5 to 0.9 RPP points. Cape Coral-Fort Myers remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 30.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (15.2 to 15.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Cape Coral-Fort Myers RPP | Medford RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.9 | 97.5 | 2.5 points Cape Coral-Fort Myers higher |
| 2012 | 97.9 | 100.9 | 3.0 points Medford higher |
| 2016 | 101.0 | 98.1 | 3.0 points Cape Coral-Fort Myers higher |
| 2020 | 98.1 | 101.9 | 3.8 points Medford higher |
| 2024 | 102.3 | 101.4 | 0.9 points Cape Coral-Fort Myers higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Cape Coral-Fort Myers would need to be in Medford for the same purchasing power:
| In Cape Coral-Fort Myers | In Medford | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,553 | $-447 |
| $75,000 | $74,329 | $-671 |
| $100,000 | $99,105 | $-895 |
| $150,000 | $148,658 | $-1,342 |
$ in Cape Coral-Fort Myers = in Medford
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (102.3 → 101.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Medford more expensive than Cape Coral-Fort Myers?
Medford is 0.9% less expensive than Cape Coral-Fort Myers. The overall cost index is 101.4 vs 102.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Medford equals $100K in Cape Coral-Fort Myers?
A $100,000 salary in Cape Coral-Fort Myers has the same purchasing power as $99,105 in Medford. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Medford?
Rents in Cape Coral-Fort Myers are indexed at 125.1 while Medford is at 97.7 (national average = 100). Cape Coral-Fort Myers has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.