Overall
Diff +0.5 RPP
Charleston-North Charleston vs Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford is 0.5% more expensive than Charleston-North Charleston.
0.5% more expensive
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL is 0.5% more expensive than Charleston-North Charleston, SC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 101.4 vs 101.0). A $100,000 salary in Charleston-North Charleston buys about the same as $100,452 in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 101.0 (Charleston-North Charleston) vs 101.4 (Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford)
- $100k in Charleston-North Charleston ≈ $100,452 purchasing power in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford
- Rents drives the gap (+3.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair SC:FL 101.0→101.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE SC × FL
- 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.
Charleston-North Charleston
101.0
Cost Index
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford
101.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Charleston-North Charleston, SC and Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford is 3.6 points higher. 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 Charleston-North Charleston corresponds to $100,452 in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
Diff -1.0 RPP
Rents
Diff +3.6 RPP
| Category | Charleston-North Charleston | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 101.0 | 101.4 | +0.5 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 96.2 | -0.1 |
| Services | 88.2 | 87.2 | -1.0 |
| Rents | 119.8 | 123.4 | +3.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Charleston-North Charleston 101.0
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 101.4
Goods
Charleston-North Charleston 96.3
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 96.2
Services
Charleston-North Charleston 88.2
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 87.2
Rents
Charleston-North Charleston 119.8
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 123.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Charleston-North Charleston and Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 3.9 to 0.5 RPP points. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 15.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (19.5 to 3.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Charleston-North Charleston RPP | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.4 | 101.4 | 3.9 points Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford higher |
| 2012 | 100.3 | 99.9 | 0.4 points Charleston-North Charleston higher |
| 2016 | 99.7 | 100.8 | 1.1 points Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford higher |
| 2020 | 98.0 | 98.5 | 0.5 points Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford higher |
| 2024 | 101.0 | 101.4 | 0.5 points Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 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 Charleston-North Charleston would need to be in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford for the same purchasing power:
| In Charleston-North Charleston | In Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,226 | +$226 |
| $75,000 | $75,339 | +$339 |
| $100,000 | $100,452 | +$452 |
| $150,000 | $150,677 | +$677 |
$ in Charleston-North Charleston = in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (101.0 → 101.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford more expensive than Charleston-North Charleston?
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford is 0.5% more expensive than Charleston-North Charleston. The overall cost index is 101.4 vs 101.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford equals $100K in Charleston-North Charleston?
A $100,000 salary in Charleston-North Charleston has the same purchasing power as $100,452 in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Charleston-North Charleston and Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford?
Rents in Charleston-North Charleston are indexed at 119.8 while Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford is at 123.4 (national average = 100). Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 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.