Overall
98.0
Below avg
Metro cost profile · 2024 BEA RPP
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC
Cost-of-living indicators for Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC, from Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities, overall, goods, services, and rents vs the U.S. average of 100.
- 98.0
- Overall RPP
- #114
- of 387 metros
- 101.2
- Rents RPP
- $102K
- $100K national buys
Hilton Head Island ranks #114 of 387 U.S. metros by cost, and its overall price index has risen 2.9 points since 2008.
- rising since 2008
- similar cost to Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos
The verdict
Hilton Head Island costs less than 29% of U.S. metros, an overall index of 98.0, 2.0% below the national average, with services the biggest swing at 88.1.
- bottom 71%
- by overall cost, nationwide
- 96.3
- goods RPP, tradable items
- 88.1
- services RPP, labor-priced
A $100,000 national salary carries the purchasing power of about $102,023 here; matching a $100K lifestyle takes roughly $98,017.
Service-cost relief profile
How Hilton Head Island's cost structure works
Services provide the strongest cost offset in Hilton Head Island: their index is 88.1, farther below the national baseline than rents or tradable goods. The overall RPP of 98.0 therefore has a different source than a place with cheaper housing instead.
Across all reported metros, the closest component-profile matches are Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL, Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC, Raleigh-Cary, NC. They resemble Hilton Head Island across goods, services, and rents together, so they are stronger structure peers than a place selected only because its overall RPP happens to be nearby.
Across 2008-2024, Hilton Head Island's overall index has risen by 2.9 points. This is a relative price-level history, not a prediction or a personal affordability recommendation; pair it with current local wages and housing options before making a decision.
Hilton Head Island vs every U.S. metro
Where this metro sits in the national cost distribution
98 Top 29% higher than 71% of 387 US metros
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities · 2024
Hilton Head Island cost breakdown
BEA RPP by category, 100 = national average
- Rents
Rents
101.2 RPP
- Services
Services
88.1 RPP
- Overall
Overall
98 RPP
- Goods
Goods
96.3 RPP
What this shows Hilton Head Island's strongest departure is services at 88.1; goods follows at 96.3. Labor-priced local activity, rather than housing alone, is the first budget line to investigate.
Goods vs. housing, where Hilton Head Island's cost comes from
Metros near Hilton Head Island's overall cost, plotted by their goods price (horizontal) and housing price (vertical). Same headline RPP, very different structures.
Read the chart as text
- Hilton Head Island (Hilton Head Island, this metro): goods RPP 96.3, rents RPP 101.2
- Austin: goods RPP 93.8, rents RPP 120.4
- Virginia Beach: goods RPP 96.8, rents RPP 99.8
- Carson City: goods RPP 96.3, rents RPP 101.2
- Raleigh: goods RPP 96.6, rents RPP 103.5
- Richmond: goods RPP 96.8, rents RPP 99.1
- Provo: goods RPP 96.4, rents RPP 104.1
Price Index Summary
Goods
96.3
Below avg
Services
88.1
Cheap
Rents
101.2
Above avg
RPP History (2008-2024)
The cost of living has been trending upward, increasing by 2.9 points over this period. The largest single-year move was in 2021, when the index jumped 5.5 points from the year before, a bigger swing than the full 2008-2024 change.
Hilton Head Island overall RPP, 2008-2024
Every year on record, national average = 100
| Year | Overall |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.1 |
| 2009 | 92.6 |
| 2010 | 95.9 |
| 2011 | 93.0 |
| 2012 | 93.6 |
| 2013 | 95.7 |
| 2014 | 94.9 |
| 2015 | 95.2 |
| 2016 | 96.0 |
| 2017 | 92.0 |
| 2018 | 95.9 |
| 2019 | 97.7 |
| 2020 | 93.6 |
| 2021 | 99.1 |
| 2022 | 99.3 |
| 2023 | 96.0 |
| 2024 | 98.0 |
Latest BEA release change
What changed from 2023 to 2024
Hilton Head Island's overall RPP rose +2.0 points, from 96.0 in 2023 to 98.0 in 2024. The largest category movement was rents, changing from 93.2 to 101.2. This is a relative change against the national benchmark, not a household's dollar bill.
Salary Equivalent
A $100,000 salary at the national average cost of living equals:
$98,017
in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC purchasing power
$50,000 nationally
$49,009
$75,000 nationally
$73,513
$125,000 nationally
$122,521
$150,000 nationally
$147,026
$200,000 nationally
$196,034
Use the salary calculator for custom amounts.
Affordability score
F
24/100
How far the median local paycheck goes here, combining income and housing cost
Purchasing power
Not reported
Housing affordability F
24th percentile
A weighted composite (60% purchasing power, 40% housing affordability) percentile-ranked against every other tracked metro; a missing input redistributes its weight rather than deflating the score. Sources: Census ACS 5-Year 2023 (income) + BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 (cost). Vintages differ by design; see methodology.
Decision peers
Metros with a similar cost mix
These metros are closest to Hilton Head Island's combined goods, services, and rents profile. They may not have the same overall RPP, but their price pressures are shaped in a similar way.
Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL
Goods 96.2 · Services 87.3 · Rents 101.6 Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC
Goods 96.8 · Services 89.6 · Rents 99.8 Raleigh-Cary, NC
Goods 96.6 · Services 89.0 · Rents 103.5 Richmond, VA
Goods 96.8 · Services 89.2 · Rents 99.1 Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL
Goods 96.2 · Services 88.5 · Rents 98.8 Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
Goods 96.6 · Services 89.3 · Rents 98.9
SC-relative analysis
Goods prices places Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC near the bottom of SC's metros
Among the 8 SC metros PlainCost tracks with reported goods prices data, Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide rank above: it compares Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC only against its own state's metros, not the full US field.
Goods prices
#1 of 8
0th percentile in SC
Services prices
#5 of 8
38th percentile in SC
Rent prices
#2 of 8
75th percentile in SC
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "more expensive is worse", see the national comparison above for direction context. This is a comparison within SC only, not a livability score.
Nationwide metros with similar overall cost or rent prices
Two BEA RPP-derived peer sets for Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC: nearest metros by overall regional price parity and by rents RPP. These are cross-state neighborhoods, not the in-state metro list below.
Similar overall RPP
Nearest metros by overall regional price parity (98.0 here).
Similar rents RPP
Nearest metros by rents regional price parity (101.2 here).
Other SC Metros
Charleston-North Charleston, SC 101.0 Columbia, SC 93.7 Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC 93.6 Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC 93.3 Spartanburg, SC 91.1 Sumter, SC 88.0
View all SC metros → Cheapest in SC → Most expensive in SC →
Metros with Similar Cost of Living
These metros have an overall RPP closest to Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC's index of 98.0.
Showing the 6 closest of 387 metro areas tracked nationally.
Cost of living guides →, cheapest and most-expensive metro rankings, salary negotiation with RPP data, and step-by-step comparison walkthroughs.
Compare to Other Metros
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What this means for Hilton Head Island
How to read Hilton Head Island's cost of living before a move, a job offer, or a budget.
- Budget to local prices, not headline pay, a $100K national salary spends like about $102,023 in Hilton Head Island. Salary calculator
- Start with services: it indexes at 88.1, the largest departure from the national benchmark in this metro's BEA cost mix. Compare it with the other components before treating the overall RPP as a complete household budget.
- Compare Hilton Head Island head-to-head against a specific destination before you decide. Compare metros
RPP is BEA's annual price-level benchmark for the data year shown, not a live market quote. Pair it with current local wages and housing costs before deciding.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cost of living in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC?
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) index of 98.0, meaning it is 2.0% less expensive than the national average. Goods are indexed at 96.3, services at 88.1, and rents at 101.2. It ranks #114 out of 387 U.S. metro areas by overall cost.
What salary do I need in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC to match $100K nationally?
To maintain the same purchasing power as a $100,000 salary at the national average, you would need approximately $98,017 in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC. Conversely, $100K earned in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC has the purchasing power of $102,023 at the national average.
How expensive is rent in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC?
Rents in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC are indexed at 101.2, which is 1.2% above the national average. This is close to the U.S. average.
Is Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC getting more expensive?
From 2008 to 2024, Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC's overall cost index changed by +2.9 points (from 95.1 to 98.0). The cost of living has been trending upward.
What costs the most in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC?
The priciest category in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC is rents at 101.2, 1.2% above the national average. The most affordable category is services at 88.1, 11.9% below average.
What metros have a similar cost of living to Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC?
Metros with the most similar overall cost index include Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, Carson City. These areas have RPP values within a few points of Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC's 98.0.
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.