Is Charleston cheaper than Jacksonville?

They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Charleston and Jacksonville metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.

Which has higher household income, Charleston or Jacksonville?

Charleston has the higher median household income — $90,307 versus $82,053 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 10% more.

Does a paycheck go further in Charleston or Jacksonville?

A paycheck stretches further in Charleston. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $89,447 there versus $82,479 in Jacksonville.

Which has cheaper rent, Charleston or Jacksonville?

Jacksonville has cheaper rent — a median of $1,625/mo versus $1,714/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).

Charleston vs Jacksonville

Metro-area medians — Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area vs Jacksonville, FL Metro Area — not the cities proper.

Charleston comes out ahead, winning 6 of the 9 clearly-decided measures.

Charleston and Jacksonville cost about the same to live in, but Charleston households earn about 10% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Charleston.

For your salary & household

Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.

Annual salary (gross)

Household size

Charleston, SC

$58,400

take-home / yr · 22% to tax

$57,844

real value after local prices

Jacksonville, FL

$61,314

take-home / yr · 18% to tax

$61,632

real value after local prices

On $75,000 for just you, Jacksonville leaves you about $3,788/yr better off after tax and local prices.

Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.

Measure

Charleston

Jacksonville

Livability (CityLedger)

67/100

53/100

Cost of living (price level, US = 100)

101.0

99.5

Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)

$89,447

$82,479

Median household income

$90,307

$82,053

Median rent

$1,714/mo

$1,625/mo

Median home value

$430,300

$375,200

Unemployment

4.6%

Bachelor's degree or higher

42.2%

38.3%

Average commute

29.4 min

27.4 min

Air quality (median AQI)

Avg temperature

67°F

71°F

Choose Charleston for

+ Livability (CityLedger)
+ Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
+ Median household income
+ Unemployment
+ Bachelor's degree or higher
+ Air quality (median AQI)

Full Charleston profile →

Choose Jacksonville for

+ Median rent
+ Median home value
+ Average commute

Full Jacksonville profile →

Charleston vs Jacksonville — frequently asked

Is Charleston cheaper than Jacksonville?: They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Charleston and Jacksonville metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.
Which has higher household income, Charleston or Jacksonville?: Charleston has the higher median household income — $90,307 versus $82,053 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 10% more.
Does a paycheck go further in Charleston or Jacksonville?: A paycheck stretches further in Charleston. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $89,447 there versus $82,479 in Jacksonville.
Which has cheaper rent, Charleston or Jacksonville?: Jacksonville has cheaper rent — a median of $1,625/mo versus $1,714/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).