Overall
Diff -1.5 RPP
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Burlington-South Burlington is 1.4% less expensive than North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota.
Burlington-South Burlington, VT is 1.4% less expensive than North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.9 vs 102.4). A $100,000 salary in North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota buys about the same as $98,567 in Burlington-South Burlington; the largest component gap is services.
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:VT 102.4→100.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-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.
North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL and Burlington-South Burlington, VT are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Burlington-South Burlington is 37.4 points higher. But services and goods 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 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.
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 North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota to $98,567 in Burlington-South Burlington, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Diff -1.5 RPP
Diff +1.0 RPP
Diff +37.4 RPP
Diff -24.1 RPP
| Category | North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota | Burlington-South Burlington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 102.4 | 100.9 | -1.5 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 97.3 | +1.0 |
| Services | 88.2 | 125.5 | +37.4 |
| Rents | 128.0 | 103.8 | -24.1 |
Vertical line = national average (100)
What a salary in North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota would need to be in Burlington-South Burlington for the same purchasing power:
| In North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota | In Burlington-South Burlington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,283 | $-717 |
| $75,000 | $73,925 | $-1,075 |
| $100,000 | $98,567 | $-1,433 |
| $150,000 | $147,850 | $-2,150 |
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (102.4 → 100.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Burlington-South Burlington is 1.4% less expensive than North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota. The overall cost index is 100.9 vs 102.4 (national average = 100).
A $100,000 salary in North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota has the same purchasing power as $98,567 in Burlington-South Burlington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
Rents in North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota are indexed at 128.0 while Burlington-South Burlington is at 103.8 (national average = 100). North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota has higher rents.
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.