Overall
Diff -0.1 RPP
Mobile vs Sumter
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Sumter is 0.1% less expensive than Mobile.
0.1% less expensive
Sumter, SC is 0.1% less expensive than Mobile, AL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 88.0 vs 88.1). A $100,000 salary in Mobile buys about the same as $99,911 in Sumter; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 88.1 (Mobile) vs 88.0 (Sumter)
- $100k in Mobile ≈ $99,911 purchasing power in Sumter
- Services drives the gap (+3.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:SC 88.1→88.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AL × 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.
Mobile
88.1
Cost Index
Sumter
88.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Mobile, AL and Sumter, SC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Sumter is 3.1 points higher. But services and rents 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Mobile to $99,911 in Sumter, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
Diff +3.1 RPP
Rents
Diff +0.7 RPP
| Category | Mobile | Sumter | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 88.1 | 88.0 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 96.3 | -0.1 |
| Services | 84.2 | 87.3 | +3.1 |
| Rents | 60.1 | 60.8 | +0.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Mobile 88.1
Sumter 88.0
Goods
Mobile 96.4
Sumter 96.3
Services
Mobile 84.2
Sumter 87.3
Rents
Mobile 60.1
Sumter 60.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Mobile would need to be in Sumter for the same purchasing power:
| In Mobile | In Sumter | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,956 | $-44 |
| $75,000 | $74,934 | $-66 |
| $100,000 | $99,911 | $-89 |
| $150,000 | $149,867 | $-133 |
$ in Mobile = in Sumter
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.1 → 88.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Sumter more expensive than Mobile?
Sumter is 0.1% less expensive than Mobile. The overall cost index is 88.0 vs 88.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Sumter equals $100K in Mobile?
A $100,000 salary in Mobile has the same purchasing power as $99,911 in Sumter. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Mobile and Sumter?
Rents in Mobile are indexed at 60.1 while Sumter is at 60.8 (national average = 100). Sumter 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.