Overall
- Florence
- 86.8
- Anniston-Oxford
- 85.9
Diff -0.8 RPP
Florence vs Anniston-Oxford
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Anniston-Oxford is 1% less expensive than Florence.
1% less expensive
Anniston-Oxford, AL is 1% less expensive than Florence, SC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.9 vs 86.8). A $100,000 salary in Florence buys about the same as $99,049 in Anniston-Oxford; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 86.8 (Florence) vs 85.9 (Anniston-Oxford)
- $100k in Florence ≈ $99,049 purchasing power in Anniston-Oxford
- Rents drives the gap (+2.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair SC:AL 86.8→85.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE SC × AL
- 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.
Florence
86.8
Cost Index
Anniston-Oxford
85.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Florence, SC and Anniston-Oxford, AL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.8 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Anniston-Oxford is 2.3 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 Florence corresponds to $99,049 in Anniston-Oxford.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Florence
- 96.3
- Anniston-Oxford
- 96.4
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
- Florence
- 87.7
- Anniston-Oxford
- 87.1
Diff -0.6 RPP
Rents
- Florence
- 52.4
- Anniston-Oxford
- 54.7
Diff +2.3 RPP
| Category | Florence | Anniston-Oxford | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.8 | 85.9 | -0.8 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 96.4 | +0.1 |
| Services | 87.7 | 87.1 | -0.6 |
| Rents | 52.4 | 54.7 | +2.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Florence 86.8
Anniston-Oxford 85.9
Goods
Florence 96.3
Anniston-Oxford 96.4
Services
Florence 87.7
Anniston-Oxford 87.1
Rents
Florence 52.4
Anniston-Oxford 54.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Florence and Anniston-Oxford share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 3.8 to 0.8 RPP points. Florence remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 10.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (9.4 to 0.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Florence RPP | Anniston-Oxford RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 84.5 | 88.2 | 3.8 points Anniston-Oxford higher |
| 2012 | 89.6 | 90.8 | 1.1 points Anniston-Oxford higher |
| 2016 | 89.5 | 90.8 | 1.4 points Anniston-Oxford higher |
| 2020 | 86.4 | 85.8 | 0.7 points Florence higher |
| 2024 | 86.8 | 85.9 | 0.8 points Florence 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 Florence would need to be in Anniston-Oxford for the same purchasing power:
| In Florence | In Anniston-Oxford | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,525 | $-475 |
| $75,000 | $74,287 | $-713 |
| $100,000 | $99,049 | $-951 |
| $150,000 | $148,574 | $-1,426 |
$ in Florence = in Anniston-Oxford
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.8 → 85.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Anniston-Oxford more expensive than Florence?
Anniston-Oxford is 1% less expensive than Florence. The overall cost index is 85.9 vs 86.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Anniston-Oxford equals $100K in Florence?
A $100,000 salary in Florence has the same purchasing power as $99,049 in Anniston-Oxford. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Florence and Anniston-Oxford?
Rents in Florence are indexed at 52.4 while Anniston-Oxford is at 54.7 (national average = 100). Anniston-Oxford 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.