Pennsylvania vs South Carolina

Household income

Currently in

Moving to

Your $100,000 in Pennsylvania is worth

$102,459

at national prices · RPP 97.6BEA 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 +$4,265 further in South Carolina (+4.2% purchasing power).

Show the math

adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)

Pennsylvania: $100,000 ÷ (97.6 ÷ 100) = $102,459

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

difference: $106,724 − $102,459 = +$4,265

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	Pennsylvania	South Carolina	Difference
All items	97.6	93.7	−4.0%
Housing rents	85.1	80.5	−5.4%
Goods	99.4	96.3	−3.1%
Utilities	109.3	88.3	−19.2%
Other services	99.8	98.3	−1.5%

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.

PennsylvaniaMedian rent$1,209/moMedian home$254,500

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	Pennsylvania	South Carolina
Income tax (top rate)	3.07%	6.00%
Sales tax (combined avg)	6.34%	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 →

Pennsylvania vs South Carolina: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from Pennsylvania to South Carolina and its purchasing power changes from $102,459 to $106,724 in national-average terms — a gain of $4,265. South Carolina is the cheaper of the two, running at 93.7 on the price index versus 97.6.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is utilities: Pennsylvania sits at 109.3 and South Carolina at 88.3 (100 = national). South Carolina has the edge there, and it's the main reason the two states diverge.

Housing

Median rent runs $1,209 in Pennsylvania against $1,180 in South Carolina, and the typical home $254,500 versus $259,000. Pennsylvania is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, Pennsylvania has 3.07% top income tax and a combined sales tax of 6.34%; South Carolina has 6.00% top income tax and 7.49%. Weigh both against the purchasing-power figure above.

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

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