Overall
Diff -4.8 RPP
Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor vs Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Scranton--Wilkes-Barre is 4.8% less expensive than Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor.
4.8% less expensive
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA is 4.8% less expensive than Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.6 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor buys about the same as $95,166 in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor) vs 93.6 (Scranton--Wilkes-Barre)
- $100k in Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor ≈ $95,166 purchasing power in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
- Rents drives the gap (-34.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:PA 98.3→93.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE FL × PA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
- 100.7
Diff +4.4 RPP
Services
- Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
- 106.5
Diff +19.3 RPP
Rents
Diff -34.6 RPP
| Category | Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor | Scranton--Wilkes-Barre | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 93.6 | -4.8 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 100.7 | +4.4 |
| Services | 87.3 | 106.5 | +19.3 |
| Rents | 101.6 | 67.0 | -34.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor 98.3
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 93.6
Goods
Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor 96.2
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 100.7
Services
Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor 87.3
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 106.5
Rents
Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor 101.6
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 67.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Scranton--Wilkes-Barre is 34.6 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.
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA is 4.8% less expensive than Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.8-point overall gap.
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.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor corresponds to $95,166 in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre.
Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor
98.3
Cost Index
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
93.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor would need to be in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre for the same purchasing power:
| In Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor | In Scranton--Wilkes-Barre | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,583 | $-2,417 |
| $75,000 | $71,375 | $-3,625 |
| $100,000 | $95,166 | $-4,834 |
| $150,000 | $142,749 | $-7,251 |
$ in Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor = in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 93.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor and Scranton--Wilkes-Barre share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 1.6 to 4.8 RPP points. Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 11.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (23.6 to 34.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor RPP | Scranton--Wilkes-Barre RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 93.5 | 95.1 | 1.6 points Scranton--Wilkes-Barre higher |
| 2012 | 92.9 | 94.0 | 1.0 points Scranton--Wilkes-Barre higher |
| 2016 | 94.2 | 94.8 | 0.6 points Scranton--Wilkes-Barre higher |
| 2020 | 95.2 | 93.1 | 2.1 points Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor higher |
| 2024 | 98.3 | 93.6 | 4.8 points Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Scranton--Wilkes-Barre more expensive than Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor?
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre is 4.8% less expensive than Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor. The overall cost index is 93.6 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 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 $95,166 in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor and Scranton--Wilkes-Barre?
Rents in Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor are indexed at 101.6 while Scranton--Wilkes-Barre is at 67.0 (national average = 100). Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor 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.