Overall
- Columbia
- 93.7
Diff -0.0 RPP
Columbia vs Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach is 0% less expensive than Columbia.
0% less expensive
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC is 0% less expensive than Columbia, SC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.6 vs 93.7). A $100,000 salary in Columbia buys about the same as $99,979 in Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 93.7 (Columbia) vs 93.6 (Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach)
- $100k in Columbia ≈ $99,979 purchasing power in Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach
- Rents drives the gap (+3.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair SC:SC 93.7→93.6
PHOTO-FINISH · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- SAME-STATE Same state · SC
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Columbia
93.7
Cost Index
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach
93.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Columbia, SC and Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.0 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach is 3.7 points higher. But rents 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 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 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 Columbia corresponds to $99,979 in Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Columbia
- 96.3
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
- Columbia
- 88.3
Diff -0.3 RPP
Rents
- Columbia
- 79.5
Diff +3.7 RPP
| Category | Columbia | Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.7 | 93.6 | -0.0 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 96.3 | 0.0 |
| Services | 88.3 | 88.0 | -0.3 |
| Rents | 79.5 | 83.1 | +3.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Columbia 93.7
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach 93.6
Goods
Columbia 96.3
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach 96.3
Services
Columbia 88.3
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach 88.0
Rents
Columbia 79.5
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach 83.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Columbia would need to be in Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach for the same purchasing power:
| In Columbia | In Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,989 | $-11 |
| $75,000 | $74,984 | $-16 |
| $100,000 | $99,979 | $-21 |
| $150,000 | $149,968 | $-32 |
$ in Columbia = in Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (93.7 → 93.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach more expensive than Columbia?
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach is 0% less expensive than Columbia. The overall cost index is 93.6 vs 93.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach equals $100K in Columbia?
A $100,000 salary in Columbia has the same purchasing power as $99,979 in Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Columbia and Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach?
Rents in Columbia are indexed at 79.5 while Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach is at 83.1 (national average = 100). Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach 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.