Overall
- Madison
- 97.3
Diff +0.7 RPP
Madison vs Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal is 0.8% more expensive than Madison.
0.8% more expensive
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC is 0.8% more expensive than Madison, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.0 vs 97.3). A $100,000 salary in Madison buys about the same as $100,750 in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 97.3 (Madison) vs 98.0 (Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal)
- $100k in Madison ≈ $100,750 purchasing power in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal
- Goods drives the gap (+2.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:SC 97.3→98.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WI × 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.
Madison
97.3
Cost Index
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal
98.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Madison, WI and Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC 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.
Goods creates the largest separation: Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal is 2.6 points higher. But services 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 goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $100,750 in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Madison, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Madison
- 93.8
Diff +2.6 RPP
Services
- Madison
- 89.8
Diff -1.7 RPP
Rents
- Madison
- 99.7
Diff +1.5 RPP
| Category | Madison | Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.3 | 98.0 | +0.7 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 96.3 | +2.6 |
| Services | 89.8 | 88.1 | -1.7 |
| Rents | 99.7 | 101.2 | +1.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Madison 97.3
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 98.0
Goods
Madison 93.8
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 96.3
Services
Madison 89.8
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 88.1
Rents
Madison 99.7
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 101.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Madison would need to be in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal for the same purchasing power:
| In Madison | In Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,375 | +$375 |
| $75,000 | $75,563 | +$563 |
| $100,000 | $100,750 | +$750 |
| $150,000 | $151,126 | +$1,126 |
$ in Madison = in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.3 → 98.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal more expensive than Madison?
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal is 0.8% more expensive than Madison. The overall cost index is 98.0 vs 97.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal equals $100K in Madison?
A $100,000 salary in Madison has the same purchasing power as $100,750 in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Madison and Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal?
Rents in Madison are indexed at 99.7 while Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal is at 101.2 (national average = 100). Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 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.