California vs South Carolina

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 South Carolina is worth

$106,724

at national prices · RPP 93.7BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

Your income goes +$16,390 further in South Carolina (+18.1% purchasing power).

Show the math

adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)

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

South Carolina: $100,000 ÷ (93.7 ÷ 100) = $106,724

difference: $106,724 − $90,334 = +$16,390

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	South Carolina	Difference
All items	110.7	93.7	−15.4%
Housing rents	154.3	80.5	−47.8%
Goods	106.1	96.3	−9.2%
Utilities	158.9	88.3	−44.4%
Other services	102.6	98.3	−4.2%

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

South CarolinaMedian rent$1,180/moMedian home$259,000

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	South Carolina
Income tax (top rate)	13.30%	6.00%
Sales tax (combined avg)	8.99%	7.49%

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 South Carolina: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from California to South Carolina and its purchasing power changes from $90,334 to $106,724 in national-average terms — a gain of $16,390. South Carolina is the cheaper of the two, running at 93.7 on the price index versus 110.7.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is housing rents: California sits at 154.3 and South Carolina at 80.5 (100 = national). South Carolina has the edge there, and it's the main reason the two states diverge.

Housing

Median rent runs $2,036 in California against $1,180 in South Carolina, and the typical home $734,700 versus $259,000. South Carolina 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%; South Carolina has 6.00% top income tax and 7.49%. Weigh both against the purchasing-power figure above.

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

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