Charleston composite
33.0 /100
Grade F · weighted across 7 dims
Metro comparison
Charleston vs Wildwood
Charleston-North Charleston, SC and Wildwood-The Villages, FL side by side, cost of living, rent, wages, crime, schools, childcare and environment, all from the same federal datasets so every number is directly comparable.
- 33.0
- Charleston Life Score
- F
- Charleston grade
- 67.0
- Wildwood Life Score
- A+
- Wildwood grade
Head-to-head verdict
Across the seven dimensions, Charleston scores higher on 2 (wages, childcare) and Wildwood on 5 (cost of living, rent, safety, schools, environment). The radar shows the full shape; the tables below break out every figure.
Where each metro wins, and by how much
Every dimension is a national percentile (0–100). Each bar leans toward the stronger metro, a long lean is a decisive edge, a near-even split is a toss-up. The radar shows the overall shape; this shows the per-dimension margins.
◖ Charleston Wildwood ◗
cost of living
17
98
wages
68
47
rent
15
48
safety
19
91
schools
30
88
childcare
71
46
environment
7
39
Charleston and Wildwood differ across eleven dimensions of livability. Charleston has a cost-of-living index of 101.0 vs Wildwood's 85.4 (national average = 100). Median salaries are $67,686 in Charleston and $63,776 in Wildwood. A 2-bedroom averages $1,787/mo vs $1,328/mo.
Beyond the headline numbers
Reading the Charleston vs Wildwood Comparison
The cost gap above compounds fastest through housing: the difference in HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent between Charleston and Wildwood works out to $5,508 over a year, the largest single line item behind the headline spread.
Adjusted for cost of living rather than compared as nominal dollars, $100,000 earned in Charleston carries the same local purchasing power as $84,610 in Wildwood - the more honest read than the salary headline above, because nominal wages and rents move together in tight metros. State-level violent crime, the most reliable geographic tier FBI UCR publishes, is 439.3 per 100,000 residents in SC vs 210.3 in FL, with property-crime rates of 1988.2 and 1030.0 respectively.
Schools are reported at the state tier by NCES: SC lists 1,215 public schools at a 13.8:1 student-teacher ratio, while FL lists 4,029 schools at 17.8:1, a signal of class-size staffing, though individual district and school-level variation within each state is substantial. Department of Labor center-based infant care runs $7,732/yr in the Charleston area versus $10,505/yr in Wildwood - a line item that shifts the real cost-of-living picture for households with children under five far more than headline RPP does. When these pieces are read together rather than in isolation, Charleston and Wildwood are not simply "cheaper" or "more expensive" - they trade across dimensions, and which metro wins depends on whether your household optimizes for rent, wages, schools, childcare, safety, or environment. Treat the tables below as inputs to that trade-off, not as a single ranking.
Wildwood composite
67.0 /100
Grade A+ · weighted across 7 dims
Environment score gap
32 pts
Wildwood cleaner, national percentile
Safety score gap
72 pts
Wildwood safer, national percentile
Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale
Charleston
Charleston composite (Grade F)
Wildwood
Wildwood composite (Grade A+)
Composite is a weighted roll-up of seven dimensions: cost (20%), wages (20%), rent (15%), safety (15%), schools (10%), childcare (10%), environment (10%). Each input normalized to a 0–100 percentile across all metros.
💰 Cost of Living BEA →
| Category | Charleston | Wildwood |
|---|---|---|
| Overall RPP | 101.0 | 85.4 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 96.2 |
| Services | 88.2 | 89.0 |
| Rents | 119.8 | 51.7 |
Salary Equivalent Calculator
What salary in Wildwood gives the same purchasing power as your salary in Charleston?
$
Equivalent in Wildwood:
$84,610
Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (Charleston: 101.0, Wildwood: 85.4, national avg = 100).
🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) HUD →
| Bedrooms | Charleston | Wildwood |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $1,557/mo | $1,076/mo |
| 1 Bedroom | $1,630/mo | $1,139/mo |
| 2 Bedroom | $1,787/mo | $1,328/mo |
| 3 Bedroom | $2,222/mo | $1,655/mo |
| 4 Bedroom | $2,562/mo | $1,937/mo |
💼 Wages & Employment BLS →
| Metric | Charleston | Wildwood |
|---|---|---|
| Avg Median Salary | $67,686 | $63,776 |
| Total Employment | 381,130 | 34,870 |
🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) FBI →
| Crime Type (per 100K) | Charleston (SC) | Wildwood (FL) |
|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime | 439.3 | 210.3 |
| Property Crime | 1988.2 | 1030.0 |
🎓 Schools (state-level) NCES →
| Metric | SC | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Total Schools | 1,215 | 4,029 |
| Student-Teacher Ratio | 13.8:1 | 17.8:1 |
| Charter Schools | 7.2% | 18.0% |
👶 Childcare Costs (Annual Avg) (state-level) DOL →
| Age Group | SC | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Infant (Center) | $7,732/yr | $10,505/yr |
| Toddler (Center) | $7,449/yr | $8,611/yr |
| Preschool (Center) | $7,402/yr | $7,983/yr |
🌿 Environment (state-level) EPA →
| Metric | SC | FL |
|---|---|---|
| EPA Facilities | 660 | 864 |
| Water Systems | 558 | 1,513 |
| Superfund Sites | 34 | 81 |
| Water Violations | 720 | 2,736 |
Government-verified data - Air quality (EPA AQS), water safety (EPA SDWIS), healthcare access (HRSA), and disaster risk (FEMA NRI) are sourced directly from U.S. federal agencies. No crowdsourced estimates.
💨 Air Quality (EPA AQS) EPA AQS →
| Metric | Charleston | Wildwood |
|---|---|---|
| Median AQI | 47.0 | 40.7 |
| Good Air Days | 60.3% | 77.5% |
| Unhealthy Air Days | 1 days | N/A |
Wildwood air quality shown at state level. Charleston has metro-level data.
💧 Water Safety (EPA SDWIS, state-level) EPA SDWIS →
| Metric | SC | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Water Safety Score | 45/100 | 9/100 |
| Total Violations | 38,355 | 184,355 |
| Health-Based Violations | 9,705 | 24,266 |
| Systems with Violations | 65.3% | 93.2% |
🏥 Healthcare Access (HRSA, state-level) HRSA →
| Metric | SC | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Access Score | 16/100 | 92/100 |
| Population in Shortage Area | 83.9% | 8.2% |
| HPSA Designations | 267 | 637 |
HPSA = Health Professional Shortage Area, designated by HRSA. Higher access score = better healthcare availability.
⚠️ Natural Disaster Risk (FEMA NRI, state-level) FEMA NRI →
| Metric | SC | FL |
|---|---|---|
| Disaster Safety Score | 36/100 | 29/100 |
| NRI Risk Score (avg county) | 70.7 | 75.7 |
| Expected Annual Loss Score | 65.2 | 72.9 |
FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) scores are county-level percentiles (0–100). Higher disaster safety score = lower relative risk. State-level values are county averages.
Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level. Metro-specific data for these dimensions is not available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Charleston more expensive than Wildwood? ▼
Charleston has a cost of living index of 101.0 compared to Wildwood's 85.4 (national average = 100). Charleston is 15.5 points above Wildwood on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between Charleston and Wildwood? ▼
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $1,787/mo in Charleston vs $1,328/mo in Wildwood, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $1,557/mo to $1,076/mo.
How do salaries compare between Charleston and Wildwood? ▼
The average median salary across all occupations is $67,686 in Charleston and $63,776 in Wildwood, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. After adjusting for cost of living, $100,000 in Charleston has the same purchasing power as $84,610 in Wildwood.
Is Charleston or Wildwood safer? ▼
At the state level, SC has a violent crime rate of 439.3 per 100,000 residents compared to FL's 210.3 per 100,000. Property crime rates are 1988.2 vs 1030.0 per 100,000 respectively, based on FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
How do schools compare between Charleston and Wildwood? ▼
SC has 1,215 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 13.8:1, while FL has 4,029 schools at 17.8:1. Charter schools make up 7.2% of SC schools vs 18.0% in FL. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Where does the comparison data come from? ▼
All data comes from official U.S. government sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis (cost of living), HUD (fair market rents), BLS (wages), FBI UCR (crime), NCES (schools), Department of Labor (childcare), EPA (environment, air quality, water safety), HRSA (healthcare access), and FEMA NRI (disaster risk). No crowdsourced estimates or proprietary ratings are used.
Research Guides
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Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, EPA AQS, EPA SDWIS, HRSA, and FEMA NRI. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.
Disclaimer: This comparison is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or relocation advice. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.
Related
Data sourced from official public datasets, current as of 2026. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare