Overall
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 102.4
Diff -11.7 RPP
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach vs Mount Vernon-Anacortes
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Mount Vernon-Anacortes is 10.3% less expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach.
10.3% less expensive
Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA is 10.3% less expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 102.4 vs 114.2). A $100,000 salary in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach buys about the same as $89,740 in Mount Vernon-Anacortes; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 114.2 (Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach) vs 102.4 (Mount Vernon-Anacortes)
- $100k in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach ≈ $89,740 purchasing power in Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- Rents drives the gap (-47.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:WA 114.2→102.4
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE FL × WA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 105.0
Diff +1.5 RPP
Services
Diff -1.2 RPP
Rents
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 108.2
Diff -47.4 RPP
| Category | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | Mount Vernon-Anacortes | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 114.2 | 102.4 | -11.7 |
| Goods | 103.6 | 105.0 | +1.5 |
| Services | 97.2 | 96.0 | -1.2 |
| Rents | 155.6 | 108.2 | -47.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 114.2
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 102.4
Goods
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 103.6
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 105.0
Services
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 97.2
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 96.0
Rents
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 155.6
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 108.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Mount Vernon-Anacortes is 47.4 points lower. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL and Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 11.7 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
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 $89,740 in Mount Vernon-Anacortes.
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
114.2
Cost Index
Mount Vernon-Anacortes
102.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach would need to be in Mount Vernon-Anacortes for the same purchasing power:
| In Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | In Mount Vernon-Anacortes | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $44,870 | $-5,130 |
| $75,000 | $67,305 | $-7,695 |
| $100,000 | $89,740 | $-10,260 |
| $150,000 | $134,610 | $-15,390 |
$ in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach = in Mount Vernon-Anacortes
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (114.2 → 102.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Mount Vernon-Anacortes more expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach?
Mount Vernon-Anacortes is 10.3% less expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach. The overall cost index is 102.4 vs 114.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Mount Vernon-Anacortes 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 $89,740 in Mount Vernon-Anacortes. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach and Mount Vernon-Anacortes?
Rents in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach are indexed at 155.6 while Mount Vernon-Anacortes is at 108.2 (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.