Rhode Island vs Florida

Enter your annual household income to compare its purchasing power between the two states.

Your $100,000 in Rhode Island is worth

$97,752

at national prices · RPP 102.3BEA 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 −$1,040 less far in Florida (−1.1% purchasing power).

Show the math
adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)
Rhode Island: $100,000 ÷ (102.3 ÷ 100) = $97,752
Florida: $100,000 ÷ (103.4 ÷ 100) = $96,712
difference: $96,712 − $97,752 = −$1,040

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.
ComponentRhode IslandFloridaDifference
All items102.3103.4+1.1%
Housing rents105.6122.1+15.6%
Goods97.298.1+0.9%
Utilities146.790.1−38.6%
Other services102.8101.3−1.5%

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.

Rhode IslandMedian rent$1,342/moMedian home$404,200
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.
TaxRhode IslandFlorida
Income tax (top rate)5.99%None
Sales tax (combined avg)7.00%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 →

Rhode Island vs Florida: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from Rhode Island to Florida and its purchasing power changes from $97,752 to $96,712 in national-average terms — a loss of $1,040. Rhode Island is the cheaper of the two, running at 102.3 on the price index versus 103.4.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is utilities: Rhode Island sits at 146.7 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 $1,342 in Rhode Island against $1,669 in Florida, and the typical home $404,200 versus $359,000. Florida is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, Rhode Island has 5.99% top income tax and a combined sales tax of 7.00%; 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: Rhode Island ·Florida. Every figure here is sourced on the pages linked above.

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