Overall
- Rochester
- 97.0
Diff +0.3 RPP
Rochester vs Panama City-Panama City Beach
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Panama City-Panama City Beach is 0.3% more expensive than Rochester.
0.3% more expensive
Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL is 0.3% more expensive than Rochester, NY on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.3 vs 97.0). A $100,000 salary in Rochester buys about the same as $100,269 in Panama City-Panama City Beach; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 97.0 (Rochester) vs 97.3 (Panama City-Panama City Beach)
- $100k in Rochester ≈ $100,269 purchasing power in Panama City-Panama City Beach
- Services drives the gap (-45.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NY:FL 97.0→97.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NY × FL
- 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.
Rochester
97.0
Cost Index
Panama City-Panama City Beach
97.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rochester, NY and Panama City-Panama City Beach, 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.
Services creates the largest separation: Panama City-Panama City Beach is 45.1 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 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 Rochester to $100,269 in Panama City-Panama City Beach, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Rochester
- 99.7
Diff -3.5 RPP
Services
- Rochester
- 133.2
Diff -45.1 RPP
Rents
- Rochester
- 87.5
Diff +8.9 RPP
| Category | Rochester | Panama City-Panama City Beach | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.0 | 97.3 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 99.7 | 96.2 | -3.5 |
| Services | 133.2 | 88.1 | -45.1 |
| Rents | 87.5 | 96.4 | +8.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Rochester 97.0
Panama City-Panama City Beach 97.3
Goods
Rochester 99.7
Panama City-Panama City Beach 96.2
Services
Rochester 133.2
Panama City-Panama City Beach 88.1
Rents
Rochester 87.5
Panama City-Panama City Beach 96.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Rochester would need to be in Panama City-Panama City Beach for the same purchasing power:
| In Rochester | In Panama City-Panama City Beach | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,134 | +$134 |
| $75,000 | $75,202 | +$202 |
| $100,000 | $100,269 | +$269 |
| $150,000 | $150,403 | +$403 |
$ in Rochester = in Panama City-Panama City Beach
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.0 → 97.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Panama City-Panama City Beach more expensive than Rochester?
Panama City-Panama City Beach is 0.3% more expensive than Rochester. The overall cost index is 97.3 vs 97.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Panama City-Panama City Beach equals $100K in Rochester?
A $100,000 salary in Rochester has the same purchasing power as $100,269 in Panama City-Panama City Beach. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Rochester and Panama City-Panama City Beach?
Rents in Rochester are indexed at 87.5 while Panama City-Panama City Beach is at 96.4 (national average = 100). Panama City-Panama City Beach 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.