Overall
- Morgantown
- 93.3
Diff -20.8 RPP
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach vs Morgantown
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Morgantown is 18.2% less expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach.
18.2% less expensive
Morgantown, WV is 18.2% less expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.3 vs 114.2). A $100,000 salary in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach buys about the same as $81,751 in Morgantown; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 114.2 (Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach) vs 93.3 (Morgantown)
- $100k in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach ≈ $81,751 purchasing power in Morgantown
- Rents drives the gap (-86.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:WV 114.2→93.3
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE FL × WV
- 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 Morgantown for the same purchasing power:
| In Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | In Morgantown | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $40,876 | $-9,124 |
| $75,000 | $61,313 | $-13,687 |
| $100,000 | $81,751 | $-18,249 |
| $150,000 | $122,627 | $-27,373 |
$ in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach = in Morgantown
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (114.2 → 93.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL and Morgantown, WV sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 20.8 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 Morgantown is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Morgantown 86.4 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 $81,751 in Morgantown.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Morgantown
- 96.3
Diff -7.3 RPP
Services
- Morgantown
- 92.5
Diff -4.7 RPP
Rents
- Morgantown
- 69.1
Diff -86.4 RPP
| Category | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | Morgantown | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 114.2 | 93.3 | -20.8 |
| Goods | 103.6 | 96.3 | -7.3 |
| Services | 97.2 | 92.5 | -4.7 |
| Rents | 155.6 | 69.1 | -86.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 114.2
Morgantown 93.3
Goods
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 103.6
Morgantown 96.3
Services
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 97.2
Morgantown 92.5
Rents
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 155.6
Morgantown 69.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
114.2
Cost Index
Morgantown
93.3
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach and Morgantown share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 17.1 to 20.8 RPP points. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 28.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (33.3 to 4.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach RPP | Morgantown RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 106.5 | 89.4 | 17.1 points Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach higher |
| 2012 | 107.5 | 91.8 | 15.6 points Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach higher |
| 2016 | 107.9 | 94.4 | 13.5 points Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach higher |
| 2020 | 109.5 | 91.9 | 17.6 points Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach higher |
| 2024 | 114.2 | 93.3 | 20.8 points Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Morgantown more expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach?
Morgantown is 18.2% less expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach. The overall cost index is 93.3 vs 114.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Morgantown 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 $81,751 in Morgantown. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach and Morgantown?
Rents in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach are indexed at 155.6 while Morgantown is at 69.1 (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.