California vs Florida

Household income

Currently in

Moving to

Your $100,000 in California is worth

$90,334

at national prices · RPP 110.7BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

The same income in Florida is worth

$96,712

at national prices · RPP 103.4BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

Your income goes +$6,378 further in Florida (+7.1% purchasing power).

Show the math

adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)

California: $100,000 ÷ (110.7 ÷ 100) = $90,334

Florida: $100,000 ÷ (103.4 ÷ 100) = $96,712

difference: $96,712 − $90,334 = +$6,378

Where the difference comes from

Price level by component, 100 = US average. Higher means more expensive.

Regional price parity by component for the two states, with the percentage difference.
Component	California	Florida	Difference
All items	110.7	103.4	−6.6%
Housing rents	154.3	122.1	−20.9%
Goods	106.1	98.1	−7.5%
Utilities	158.9	90.1	−43.3%
Other services	102.6	101.3	−1.3%

BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 · rel. February 2026 · Official API

Housing reality check

Typical rent and home price in each state — tangible context beyond the index.

CaliforniaMedian rent$2,036/moMedian home$734,700

FloridaMedian rent$1,669/moMedian home$359,000

US Census ACS 5-Year Estimates · ACS5 · 2024 · rel. December 2025 · Official API

Tax at a glance

Hand-curated, tax year 2026 · verified 2026-07-20

Income and sales tax for the two states.
Tax	California	Florida
Income tax (top rate)	13.30%	None
Sales tax (combined avg)	8.99%	6.98%

Tax Foundation (income & sales) · Tax · 2026 · rel. tax year 2026 · Manually maintained · verified 2026-07-20

Official API Manually maintained2 of 3 metrics sourced from official APIs, 1 manually maintained. How every number is calculated →

California vs Florida: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from California to Florida and its purchasing power changes from $90,334 to $96,712 in national-average terms — a gain of $6,378. Florida is the cheaper of the two, running at 103.4 on the price index versus 110.7.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is utilities: California sits at 158.9 and Florida at 90.1 (100 = national). Florida has the edge there, and it's the main reason the two states diverge.

Housing

Median rent runs $2,036 in California against $1,669 in Florida, and the typical home $734,700 versus $359,000. Florida is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, California has 13.30% top income tax and a combined sales tax of 8.99%; Florida has no wage income tax and 6.98%. That income-tax difference can outweigh a chunk of the cost-of-living gap for higher earners.

Full profiles: California ·Florida. Every figure here is sourced on the pages linked above.

Comparing a different pair?Use the full tool →