Overall
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers
- 102.3
Diff -0.2 RPP
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington vs Cape Coral-Fort Myers
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Cape Coral-Fort Myers is 0.2% less expensive than Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington.
0.2% less expensive
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL is 0.2% less expensive than Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 102.3 vs 102.6). A $100,000 salary in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington buys about the same as $99,800 in Cape Coral-Fort Myers; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 102.6 (Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington) vs 102.3 (Cape Coral-Fort Myers)
- $100k in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington ≈ $99,800 purchasing power in Cape Coral-Fort Myers
- Services drives the gap (-27.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair PA:FL 102.6→102.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE PA × FL
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 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.
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington
102.6
Cost Index
Cape Coral-Fort Myers
102.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD and Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Cape Coral-Fort Myers is 27.5 points lower. But 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 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington to $99,800 in Cape Coral-Fort Myers, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -0.6 RPP
Services
Diff -27.5 RPP
Rents
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers
- 125.1
Diff +12.0 RPP
| Category | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington | Cape Coral-Fort Myers | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 102.6 | 102.3 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 96.8 | 96.2 | -0.6 |
| Services | 114.4 | 86.9 | -27.5 |
| Rents | 113.1 | 125.1 | +12.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 102.6
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 102.3
Goods
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 96.8
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 96.2
Services
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 114.4
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 86.9
Rents
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 113.1
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 125.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington would need to be in Cape Coral-Fort Myers for the same purchasing power:
| In Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington | In Cape Coral-Fort Myers | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,900 | $-100 |
| $75,000 | $74,850 | $-150 |
| $100,000 | $99,800 | $-200 |
| $150,000 | $149,700 | $-300 |
$ in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington = in Cape Coral-Fort Myers
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (102.6 → 102.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cape Coral-Fort Myers more expensive than Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington?
Cape Coral-Fort Myers is 0.2% less expensive than Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington. The overall cost index is 102.3 vs 102.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Cape Coral-Fort Myers equals $100K in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington?
A $100,000 salary in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington has the same purchasing power as $99,800 in Cape Coral-Fort Myers. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington and Cape Coral-Fort Myers?
Rents in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington are indexed at 113.1 while Cape Coral-Fort Myers is at 125.1 (national average = 100). Cape Coral-Fort Myers 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.