Overall
Diff -18.6 RPP
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach vs Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood is 16.3% less expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach.
16.3% less expensive
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI is 16.3% less expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 95.5 vs 114.2). A $100,000 salary in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach buys about the same as $83,698 in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 114.2 (Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach) vs 95.5 (Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood)
- $100k in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach ≈ $83,698 purchasing power in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood
- Rents drives the gap (-69.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:MI 114.2→95.5
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE FL × MI
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-STEEP Steep PP convert
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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach would need to be in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood for the same purchasing power:
| In Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | In Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $41,849 | $-8,151 |
| $75,000 | $62,774 | $-12,226 |
| $100,000 | $83,698 | $-16,302 |
| $150,000 | $125,548 | $-24,452 |
$ in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach = in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (114.2 → 95.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL and Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 18.6 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach is above 100 while Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 69.0 points lower than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach. 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.
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 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach corresponds to $83,698 in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -9.8 RPP
Services
Diff -3.5 RPP
Rents
Diff -69.0 RPP
| Category | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 114.2 | 95.5 | -18.6 |
| Goods | 103.6 | 93.7 | -9.8 |
| Services | 97.2 | 93.8 | -3.5 |
| Rents | 155.6 | 86.6 | -69.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 114.2
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 95.5
Goods
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 103.6
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 93.7
Services
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 97.2
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 93.8
Rents
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 155.6
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 86.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
114.2
Cost Index
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood
95.5
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood more expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach?
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood is 16.3% less expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach. The overall cost index is 95.5 vs 114.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood equals $100K in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach?
A $100,000 salary in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach has the same purchasing power as $83,698 in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach and Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood?
Rents in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach are indexed at 155.6 while Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood is at 86.6 (national average = 100). Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm 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.