Overall
- Port St. Lucie
- 100.2
- Punta Gorda
- 100.5
Diff +0.3 RPP
Port St. Lucie vs Punta Gorda
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Punta Gorda is 0.3% more expensive than Port St. Lucie.
0.3% more expensive
Punta Gorda, FL is 0.3% more expensive than Port St. Lucie, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.5 vs 100.2). A $100,000 salary in Port St. Lucie buys about the same as $100,296 in Punta Gorda; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 100.2 (Port St. Lucie) vs 100.5 (Punta Gorda)
- $100k in Port St. Lucie ≈ $100,296 purchasing power in Punta Gorda
- Rents drives the gap (-0.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:FL 100.2→100.5
PHOTO-FINISH · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- SAME-STATE Same state · 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.
Port St. Lucie
100.2
Cost Index
Punta Gorda
100.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Port St. Lucie, FL and Punta Gorda, FL 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: Punta Gorda is 0.4 points lower. But rents 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 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 Port St. Lucie corresponds to $100,296 in Punta Gorda.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Port St. Lucie
- 96.2
- Punta Gorda
- 96.2
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
- Port St. Lucie
- 87.0
- Punta Gorda
- 87.3
Diff +0.3 RPP
Rents
- Port St. Lucie
- 113.6
- Punta Gorda
- 113.3
Diff -0.4 RPP
| Category | Port St. Lucie | Punta Gorda | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 100.2 | 100.5 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.2 | 0.0 |
| Services | 87.0 | 87.3 | +0.3 |
| Rents | 113.6 | 113.3 | -0.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Port St. Lucie 100.2
Punta Gorda 100.5
Goods
Port St. Lucie 96.2
Punta Gorda 96.2
Services
Port St. Lucie 87.0
Punta Gorda 87.3
Rents
Port St. Lucie 113.6
Punta Gorda 113.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Port St. Lucie would need to be in Punta Gorda for the same purchasing power:
| In Port St. Lucie | In Punta Gorda | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,148 | +$148 |
| $75,000 | $75,222 | +$222 |
| $100,000 | $100,296 | +$296 |
| $150,000 | $150,444 | +$444 |
$ in Port St. Lucie = in Punta Gorda
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (100.2 → 100.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Punta Gorda more expensive than Port St. Lucie?
Punta Gorda is 0.3% more expensive than Port St. Lucie. The overall cost index is 100.5 vs 100.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Punta Gorda equals $100K in Port St. Lucie?
A $100,000 salary in Port St. Lucie has the same purchasing power as $100,296 in Punta Gorda. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Port St. Lucie and Punta Gorda?
Rents in Port St. Lucie are indexed at 113.6 while Punta Gorda is at 113.3 (national average = 100). Port St. Lucie 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.