Overall
- Portland-South Portland
- 101.9
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers
- 102.3
Diff +0.5 RPP
Portland-South Portland vs Cape Coral-Fort Myers
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Cape Coral-Fort Myers is 0.5% more expensive than Portland-South Portland.
0.5% more expensive
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL is 0.5% more expensive than Portland-South Portland, ME on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 102.3 vs 101.9). A $100,000 salary in Portland-South Portland buys about the same as $100,482 in Cape Coral-Fort Myers; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 101.9 (Portland-South Portland) vs 102.3 (Cape Coral-Fort Myers)
- $100k in Portland-South Portland ≈ $100,482 purchasing power in Cape Coral-Fort Myers
- Services drives the gap (-47.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ME:FL 101.9→102.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE ME × 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.
Portland-South Portland
101.9
Cost Index
Cape Coral-Fort Myers
102.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Portland-South Portland, ME and Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Cape Coral-Fort Myers is 47.7 points lower. 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 Portland-South Portland to $100,482 in Cape Coral-Fort Myers, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -0.9 RPP
Services
- Portland-South Portland
- 134.6
Diff -47.7 RPP
Rents
- Portland-South Portland
- 105.2
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers
- 125.1
Diff +19.9 RPP
| Category | Portland-South Portland | Cape Coral-Fort Myers | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 101.9 | 102.3 | +0.5 |
| Goods | 97.2 | 96.2 | -0.9 |
| Services | 134.6 | 86.9 | -47.7 |
| Rents | 105.2 | 125.1 | +19.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Portland-South Portland 101.9
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 102.3
Goods
Portland-South Portland 97.2
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 96.2
Services
Portland-South Portland 134.6
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 86.9
Rents
Portland-South Portland 105.2
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 125.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Portland-South Portland would need to be in Cape Coral-Fort Myers for the same purchasing power:
| In Portland-South Portland | In Cape Coral-Fort Myers | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,241 | +$241 |
| $75,000 | $75,362 | +$362 |
| $100,000 | $100,482 | +$482 |
| $150,000 | $150,723 | +$723 |
$ in Portland-South Portland = in Cape Coral-Fort Myers
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (101.9 → 102.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cape Coral-Fort Myers more expensive than Portland-South Portland?
Cape Coral-Fort Myers is 0.5% more expensive than Portland-South Portland. The overall cost index is 102.3 vs 101.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Cape Coral-Fort Myers equals $100K in Portland-South Portland?
A $100,000 salary in Portland-South Portland has the same purchasing power as $100,482 in Cape Coral-Fort Myers. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Portland-South Portland and Cape Coral-Fort Myers?
Rents in Portland-South Portland are indexed at 105.2 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.