Overall
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 109.4
Diff +11.1 RPP
Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor vs Kahului-Wailuku
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Kahului-Wailuku is 11.3% more expensive than Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor.
11.3% more expensive
Kahului-Wailuku, HI is 11.3% more expensive than Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 109.4 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor buys about the same as $111,276 in Kahului-Wailuku; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor) vs 109.4 (Kahului-Wailuku)
- $100k in Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor ≈ $111,276 purchasing power in Kahului-Wailuku
- Services drives the gap (+103.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:HI 98.3→109.4
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE FL × HI
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL and Kahului-Wailuku, HI sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 11.1 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Kahului-Wailuku is above 100 while Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Services leads the difference, with Kahului-Wailuku 103.3 points higher than Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor to $111,276 in Kahului-Wailuku, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor and Kahului-Wailuku share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 14.0 to 11.1 RPP points. Kahului-Wailuku remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 51.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (52.1 to 103.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor RPP | Kahului-Wailuku RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 93.5 | 107.5 | 14.0 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2012 | 92.9 | 102.7 | 9.7 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2016 | 94.2 | 102.9 | 8.7 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2020 | 95.2 | 111.5 | 16.3 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2024 | 98.3 | 109.4 | 11.1 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 111.6
Diff +15.3 RPP
Services
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 190.6
Diff +103.3 RPP
Rents
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 119.2
Diff +17.5 RPP
| Category | Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor | Kahului-Wailuku | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 109.4 | +11.1 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 111.6 | +15.3 |
| Services | 87.3 | 190.6 | +103.3 |
| Rents | 101.6 | 119.2 | +17.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor 98.3
Kahului-Wailuku 109.4
Goods
Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor 96.2
Kahului-Wailuku 111.6
Services
Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor 87.3
Kahului-Wailuku 190.6
Rents
Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor 101.6
Kahului-Wailuku 119.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor would need to be in Kahului-Wailuku for the same purchasing power:
| In Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor | In Kahului-Wailuku | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $55,638 | +$5,638 |
| $75,000 | $83,457 | +$8,457 |
| $100,000 | $111,276 | +$11,276 |
| $150,000 | $166,914 | +$16,914 |
$ in Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor = in Kahului-Wailuku
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 109.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor
98.3
Cost Index
Kahului-Wailuku
109.4
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kahului-Wailuku more expensive than Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor?
Kahului-Wailuku is 11.3% more expensive than Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor. The overall cost index is 109.4 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Kahului-Wailuku equals $100K in Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor?
A $100,000 salary in Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor has the same purchasing power as $111,276 in Kahului-Wailuku. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor and Kahului-Wailuku?
Rents in Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor are indexed at 101.6 while Kahului-Wailuku is at 119.2 (national average = 100). Kahului-Wailuku 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.