Overall
Diff +0.3 RPP
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent vs Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal is 0.3% more expensive than Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent.
0.3% more expensive
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC is 0.3% more expensive than Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.0 vs 97.7). A $100,000 salary in Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent buys about the same as $100,307 in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 97.7 (Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent) vs 98.0 (Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal)
- $100k in Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent ≈ $100,307 purchasing power in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal
- Rents drives the gap (+2.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:SC 97.7→98.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE FL × 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.
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent
97.7
Cost Index
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal
98.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL and Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal is 2.5 points higher. 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 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 Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent corresponds to $100,307 in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
Diff -0.4 RPP
Rents
Diff +2.5 RPP
| Category | Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent | Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.7 | 98.0 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.3 | +0.1 |
| Services | 88.5 | 88.1 | -0.4 |
| Rents | 98.8 | 101.2 | +2.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent 97.7
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 98.0
Goods
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent 96.2
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 96.3
Services
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent 88.5
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 88.1
Rents
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent 98.8
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 101.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent would need to be in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal for the same purchasing power:
| In Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent | In Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,154 | +$154 |
| $75,000 | $75,230 | +$230 |
| $100,000 | $100,307 | +$307 |
| $150,000 | $150,461 | +$461 |
$ in Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent = in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.7 → 98.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal more expensive than Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent?
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal is 0.3% more expensive than Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent. The overall cost index is 98.0 vs 97.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal equals $100K in Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent?
A $100,000 salary in Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent has the same purchasing power as $100,307 in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent and Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal?
Rents in Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent are indexed at 98.8 while Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal is at 101.2 (national average = 100). Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 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.