Overall
Diff -0.7 RPP
Florence vs Paducah
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Paducah is 0.8% less expensive than Florence.
0.8% less expensive
Paducah, KY-IL is 0.8% less expensive than Florence, SC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 86.1 vs 86.8). A $100,000 salary in Florence buys about the same as $99,205 in Paducah; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 86.8 (Florence) vs 86.1 (Paducah)
- $100k in Florence ≈ $99,205 purchasing power in Paducah
- Services drives the gap (-10.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair SC:KY 86.8→86.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE SC × KY
- 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.
Florence
86.8
Cost Index
Paducah
86.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Florence, SC and Paducah, KY-IL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.7 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with Paducah 10.9 points lower than Florence. 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 Florence to $99,205 in Paducah, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -0.3 RPP
Services
Diff -10.9 RPP
Rents
Diff -3.6 RPP
| Category | Florence | Paducah | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.8 | 86.1 | -0.7 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 96.0 | -0.3 |
| Services | 87.7 | 76.9 | -10.9 |
| Rents | 52.4 | 48.8 | -3.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Florence 86.8
Paducah 86.1
Goods
Florence 96.3
Paducah 96.0
Services
Florence 87.7
Paducah 76.9
Rents
Florence 52.4
Paducah 48.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Florence would need to be in Paducah for the same purchasing power:
| In Florence | In Paducah | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,602 | $-398 |
| $75,000 | $74,404 | $-596 |
| $100,000 | $99,205 | $-795 |
| $150,000 | $148,807 | $-1,193 |
$ in Florence = in Paducah
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.8 → 86.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Paducah more expensive than Florence?
Paducah is 0.8% less expensive than Florence. The overall cost index is 86.1 vs 86.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Paducah equals $100K in Florence?
A $100,000 salary in Florence has the same purchasing power as $99,205 in Paducah. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Florence and Paducah?
Rents in Florence are indexed at 52.4 while Paducah is at 48.8 (national average = 100). Florence 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.