Charleston, SC vs Orlando, FL
Moving from Charleston to Orlando? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($435,877 → $387,733 median home) and taxes.
Charleston vs Orlando at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Charleston, SC, you'd need about $100,487 in Orlando, FL (+$487).
Livability — Charleston, SC: 60 · Orlando, FL: 66 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,295 sqft in Charleston vs 2,385 sqft in Orlando ($218 vs $210 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Charleston, SC | Orlando, FL | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $24,288 | $23,724 | −$564 |
| Groceries | $4,797 | $4,813 | +$16 |
| Transportation | $3,465 | $4,800 | +$1,335 |
| Utilities | $1,848 | $1,656 | −$192 |
| Insurance | $2,000 | $4,200 | +$2,200 |
| Taxes | $10,552 | $4,915 | −$5,637 |
| Total | $46,950 | $44,108 | −$2,842 |
Side by side
| Metric | Charleston, SC | Orlando, FL |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 101.1 | 101.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.07% | 5.26% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 8.0% | 12.1% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.75 | $5.78 |
| Median home price | $435,877 | $387,733 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.6× | 5.4× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -0.9% | -3.1% |
| Price per square foot | $218 | $210 |
| Median rent | $2,024 | $1,977 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.44% | 7.02% |
| Capital gains tax | 6.40% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.49% | 0.80% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,500 | $7,500 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $8,500 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.33% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 27 | 29 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,000 | $4,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,900 | $2,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $900 | $1,400 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $350 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 17.1 | 15.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.05 | 3.35 |
| Natural gas / mo | $56 | $38 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $97 | $88 |
| Home internet / mo | $78 | $76 |
| Violent crime /100k | 530 | 380 |
| Avg summer high °F | 91 | 91 |
| Avg winter low °F | 36 | 52 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 51.0 | 51.5 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 1.0 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 62% | 56% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 3 |