Overall
Diff -0.2 RPP
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia vs Lakeland-Winter Haven
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lakeland-Winter Haven is 0.2% less expensive than Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia.
0.2% less expensive
Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL is 0.2% less expensive than Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.1 vs 97.3). A $100,000 salary in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia buys about the same as $99,787 in Lakeland-Winter Haven; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 97.3 (Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia) vs 97.1 (Lakeland-Winter Haven)
- $100k in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia ≈ $99,787 purchasing power in Lakeland-Winter Haven
- Services drives the gap (-2.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:FL 97.3→97.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NC × FL
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 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.
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
97.3
Cost Index
Lakeland-Winter Haven
97.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC and Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with Lakeland-Winter Haven 2.3 points lower than Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia to $99,787 in Lakeland-Winter Haven, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -0.3 RPP
Services
Diff -2.3 RPP
Rents
Diff -1.7 RPP
| Category | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia | Lakeland-Winter Haven | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.3 | 97.1 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 96.2 | -0.3 |
| Services | 89.2 | 86.9 | -2.3 |
| Rents | 97.6 | 95.9 | -1.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 97.3
Lakeland-Winter Haven 97.1
Goods
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 96.6
Lakeland-Winter Haven 96.2
Services
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 89.2
Lakeland-Winter Haven 86.9
Rents
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 97.6
Lakeland-Winter Haven 95.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia would need to be in Lakeland-Winter Haven for the same purchasing power:
| In Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia | In Lakeland-Winter Haven | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,894 | $-106 |
| $75,000 | $74,841 | $-159 |
| $100,000 | $99,787 | $-213 |
| $150,000 | $149,681 | $-319 |
$ in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia = in Lakeland-Winter Haven
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.3 → 97.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lakeland-Winter Haven more expensive than Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia?
Lakeland-Winter Haven is 0.2% less expensive than Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia. The overall cost index is 97.1 vs 97.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lakeland-Winter Haven equals $100K in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia?
A $100,000 salary in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia has the same purchasing power as $99,787 in Lakeland-Winter Haven. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia and Lakeland-Winter Haven?
Rents in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia are indexed at 97.6 while Lakeland-Winter Haven is at 95.9 (national average = 100). Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 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.