Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin vs Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia

Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia is 0.3% more expensive than Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin.

0.3% more expensive

Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC is 0.3% more expensive than Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.3 vs 97.0). A $100,000 salary in Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin buys about the same as $100,327 in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia; the largest component gap is rents.

  • Overall RPP 97.0 (Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin) vs 97.3 (Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia)
  • $100k in Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin ≈ $100,327 purchasing power in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
  • Rents drives the gap (+2.7 RPP points)

RPP parity plate

Pair FL:NC 97.0→97.3

PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR

  • PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
  • CROSS-STATE FL × NC
  • RENT-LED Rent-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.

Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin
97.0
Cost Index
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
97.3
Cost Index

What This Comparison Actually Tells You

Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL and Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.

Rents leads the difference, with Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 2.7 points higher than Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin. 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 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 Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin corresponds to $100,327 in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia.

Category Breakdown

Visual Comparison

Overall
Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin
97.0
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
97.3
Goods
Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin
96.2
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
96.6
Services
Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin
89.0
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
89.2
Rents
Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin
94.9
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
97.6

Vertical line = national average (100)

Salary Equivalents

What a salary in Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin would need to be in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia for the same purchasing power:

In Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin In Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia Difference
$50,000 $50,163 +$163
$75,000 $75,245 +$245
$100,000 $100,327 +$327
$150,000 $150,490 +$490
$ in Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin = in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia

Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.0 → 97.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia more expensive than Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin?

Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia is 0.3% more expensive than Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin. The overall cost index is 97.3 vs 97.0 (national average = 100).

What salary in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia equals $100K in Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin?

A $100,000 salary in Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin has the same purchasing power as $100,327 in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.

How do rents compare between Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin and Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia?

Rents in Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin are indexed at 94.9 while Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia is at 97.6 (national average = 100). Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia has higher rents.

Data sourced from official public datasets, Regional Price Parities (2024), index where national average = 100. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCost. See our methodology for details.

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.