Overall
- Provo-Orem-Lehi
- 98.2
Diff +0.9 RPP
Panama City-Panama City Beach vs Provo-Orem-Lehi
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Provo-Orem-Lehi is 1% more expensive than Panama City-Panama City Beach.
1% more expensive
Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT is 1% more expensive than Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.2 vs 97.3). A $100,000 salary in Panama City-Panama City Beach buys about the same as $100,962 in Provo-Orem-Lehi; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 97.3 (Panama City-Panama City Beach) vs 98.2 (Provo-Orem-Lehi)
- $100k in Panama City-Panama City Beach ≈ $100,962 purchasing power in Provo-Orem-Lehi
- Services drives the gap (-9.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:UT 97.3→98.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE FL × UT
- 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.
Panama City-Panama City Beach
97.3
Cost Index
Provo-Orem-Lehi
98.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL and Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.9 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Provo-Orem-Lehi is 9.5 points lower. But services 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 Panama City-Panama City Beach to $100,962 in Provo-Orem-Lehi, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Provo-Orem-Lehi
- 96.4
Diff +0.2 RPP
Services
- Provo-Orem-Lehi
- 78.6
Diff -9.5 RPP
Rents
- Provo-Orem-Lehi
- 104.1
Diff +7.7 RPP
| Category | Panama City-Panama City Beach | Provo-Orem-Lehi | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.3 | 98.2 | +0.9 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.4 | +0.2 |
| Services | 88.1 | 78.6 | -9.5 |
| Rents | 96.4 | 104.1 | +7.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Panama City-Panama City Beach 97.3
Provo-Orem-Lehi 98.2
Goods
Panama City-Panama City Beach 96.2
Provo-Orem-Lehi 96.4
Services
Panama City-Panama City Beach 88.1
Provo-Orem-Lehi 78.6
Rents
Panama City-Panama City Beach 96.4
Provo-Orem-Lehi 104.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Panama City-Panama City Beach would need to be in Provo-Orem-Lehi for the same purchasing power:
| In Panama City-Panama City Beach | In Provo-Orem-Lehi | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,481 | +$481 |
| $75,000 | $75,722 | +$722 |
| $100,000 | $100,962 | +$962 |
| $150,000 | $151,443 | +$1,443 |
$ in Panama City-Panama City Beach = in Provo-Orem-Lehi
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.3 → 98.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Provo-Orem-Lehi more expensive than Panama City-Panama City Beach?
Provo-Orem-Lehi is 1% more expensive than Panama City-Panama City Beach. The overall cost index is 98.2 vs 97.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Provo-Orem-Lehi equals $100K in Panama City-Panama City Beach?
A $100,000 salary in Panama City-Panama City Beach has the same purchasing power as $100,962 in Provo-Orem-Lehi. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Panama City-Panama City Beach and Provo-Orem-Lehi?
Rents in Panama City-Panama City Beach are indexed at 96.4 while Provo-Orem-Lehi is at 104.1 (national average = 100). Provo-Orem-Lehi 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.