Overall
- Naples-Marco Island
- 103.2
- Athens-Clarke County
- 93.3
Diff -9.9 RPP
Naples-Marco Island vs Athens-Clarke County
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Athens-Clarke County is 9.6% less expensive than Naples-Marco Island.
9.6% less expensive
Athens-Clarke County, GA is 9.6% less expensive than Naples-Marco Island, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.3 vs 103.2). A $100,000 salary in Naples-Marco Island buys about the same as $90,449 in Athens-Clarke County; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.2 (Naples-Marco Island) vs 93.3 (Athens-Clarke County)
- $100k in Naples-Marco Island ≈ $90,449 purchasing power in Athens-Clarke County
- Rents drives the gap (-52.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:GA 103.2→93.3
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE FL × GA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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
- Naples-Marco Island
- 96.2
- Athens-Clarke County
- 96.3
Diff +0.0 RPP
Services
- Naples-Marco Island
- 87.8
- Athens-Clarke County
- 89.3
Diff +1.5 RPP
Rents
- Naples-Marco Island
- 129.4
- Athens-Clarke County
- 76.8
Diff -52.7 RPP
| Category | Naples-Marco Island | Athens-Clarke County | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.2 | 93.3 | -9.9 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.3 | +0.0 |
| Services | 87.8 | 89.3 | +1.5 |
| Rents | 129.4 | 76.8 | -52.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Naples-Marco Island 103.2
Athens-Clarke County 93.3
Goods
Naples-Marco Island 96.2
Athens-Clarke County 96.3
Services
Naples-Marco Island 87.8
Athens-Clarke County 89.3
Rents
Naples-Marco Island 129.4
Athens-Clarke County 76.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Athens-Clarke County is 52.7 points lower. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Naples-Marco Island, FL and Athens-Clarke County, GA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 9.9 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Naples-Marco Island is above 100 while Athens-Clarke County is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 Naples-Marco Island corresponds to $90,449 in Athens-Clarke County.
Naples-Marco Island
103.2
Cost Index
Athens-Clarke County
93.3
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Naples-Marco Island would need to be in Athens-Clarke County for the same purchasing power:
| In Naples-Marco Island | In Athens-Clarke County | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $45,224 | $-4,776 |
| $75,000 | $67,836 | $-7,164 |
| $100,000 | $90,449 | $-9,551 |
| $150,000 | $135,673 | $-14,327 |
$ in Naples-Marco Island = in Athens-Clarke County
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.2 → 93.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Naples-Marco Island and Athens-Clarke County share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 10.1 to 9.9 RPP points. Naples-Marco Island remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 6.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (4.5 to 1.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Naples-Marco Island RPP | Athens-Clarke County RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 104.3 | 94.2 | 10.1 points Naples-Marco Island higher |
| 2012 | 101.6 | 93.3 | 8.3 points Naples-Marco Island higher |
| 2016 | 103.8 | 93.7 | 10.0 points Naples-Marco Island higher |
| 2020 | 99.1 | 90.2 | 8.9 points Naples-Marco Island higher |
| 2024 | 103.2 | 93.3 | 9.9 points Naples-Marco Island 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 Athens-Clarke County more expensive than Naples-Marco Island?
Athens-Clarke County is 9.6% less expensive than Naples-Marco Island. The overall cost index is 93.3 vs 103.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Athens-Clarke County equals $100K in Naples-Marco Island?
A $100,000 salary in Naples-Marco Island has the same purchasing power as $90,449 in Athens-Clarke County. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Naples-Marco Island and Athens-Clarke County?
Rents in Naples-Marco Island are indexed at 129.4 while Athens-Clarke County is at 76.8 (national average = 100). Naples-Marco Island 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.