Florence composite
60.2 /100
Grade A- · weighted across 7 dims
Metro comparison
Florence vs Hilton Head Island
Florence, SC and Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC 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.
- 60.2
- Florence Life Score
- A-
- Florence grade
- 41.9
- Hilton Head Island Life Score
- C
- Hilton Head Island grade
Head-to-head verdict
Across the seven dimensions, Florence scores higher on 4 (cost of living, rent, safety, childcare) and Hilton Head Island on 3 (wages, schools, environment). The radar shows the full shape; the tables below break out every figure.
Florence vs Hilton Head Island across all seven dimensions (each scored 0–100 as a national percentile, bigger area = stronger overall)
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.
◖ Florence Hilton Head Island ◗
cost of living
92
29
wages
11
29
rent
82
14
safety
97
97
schools
26
27
childcare
71
70
environment
31
39
Florence and Hilton Head Island differ across eleven dimensions of livability. Florence has a cost-of-living index of 86.8 vs Hilton Head Island's 98.0 (national average = 100). Median salaries are $60,956 in Florence and $63,019 in Hilton Head Island. A 2-bedroom averages $1,098/mo vs $1,816/mo.
How to read this matchup
Reading the Florence vs Hilton Head Island Comparison
Florence (SC) and Hilton Head Island (SC) are assembled here from the same federal data pipeline, BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, FBI Uniform Crime Reports, NCES public-school counts, and EPA environmental indicators, so every number on this page is directly comparable. The overall cost index reads 86.8 for Florence against 98.0 for Hilton Head Island, a 11.2-point gap on a scale where 100 equals the U.S. average. HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent, the figure used to set housing-choice voucher payment standards, is $1,098/mo in Florence and $1,816/mo in Hilton Head Island, a $718/mo difference that compounds to $8,616 over a year.
On wages, BLS OES reports a median salary of $60,956 across 82,440 jobs in Florence against $63,019 across 77,390 jobs in Hilton Head Island. Adjusted through the BEA cost-of-living lens, $100,000 earned in Florence carries the same local purchasing power as $112,957 in Hilton Head Island - the most honest way to read the salary headline, 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 439.3 in SC, with property-crime rates of 1988.2 and 1988.2 respectively.
Schools are reported at the state tier by NCES: SC lists 1,215 public schools at a 14.3:1 student-teacher ratio, while SC lists 1,215 schools at 14.3:1, 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 Florence area versus $7,732/yr in Hilton Head Island - 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, Florence and Hilton Head Island 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.
Hilton Head Island composite
41.9 /100
Grade C · weighted across 7 dims
Cost-of-living gap
-11.2 pts
Florence vs Hilton Head Island BEA RPP
2-bed rent delta
$718 /mo
Hilton Head Island priced higher
Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale
Florence
Florence composite (Grade A-)
Hilton Head Island
Hilton Head Island composite (Grade C)
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 | Florence | Hilton Head Island |
|---|---|---|
| Overall RPP | 86.8 | 98.0 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 96.3 |
| Services | 87.7 | 88.1 |
| Rents | 52.4 | 101.2 |
Salary Equivalent Calculator
What salary in Hilton Head Island gives the same purchasing power as your salary in Florence?
$
Equivalent in Hilton Head Island:
$112,957
Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (Florence: 86.8, Hilton Head Island: 98.0, national avg = 100).
🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) HUD →
| Bedrooms | Florence | Hilton Head Island |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $850/mo | $1,582/mo |
| 1 Bedroom | $856/mo | $1,657/mo |
| 2 Bedroom | $1,098/mo | $1,816/mo |
| 3 Bedroom | $1,317/mo | $2,177/mo |
| 4 Bedroom | $1,499/mo | $2,720/mo |
💼 Wages & Employment BLS →
| Metric | Florence | Hilton Head Island |
|---|---|---|
| Avg Median Salary | $60,956 | $63,019 |
| Total Employment | 82,440 | 77,390 |
🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) FBI →
| Crime Type (per 100K) | Florence (SC) | Hilton Head Island (SC) |
|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime | 439.3 | 439.3 |
| Property Crime | 1988.2 | 1988.2 |
🎓 Schools (state-level) NCES →
| Metric | SC | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Total Schools | 1,215 | 1,215 |
| Student-Teacher Ratio | 14.3:1 | 14.3:1 |
| Charter Schools | 7.2% | 7.2% |
👶 Childcare Costs (Annual Avg) (state-level) DOL →
| Age Group | SC | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Infant (Center) | $7,732/yr | $7,732/yr |
| Toddler (Center) | $7,449/yr | $7,449/yr |
| Preschool (Center) | $7,402/yr | $7,402/yr |
🌿 Environment (state-level) EPA →
| Metric | SC | SC |
|---|---|---|
| EPA Facilities | 660 | 660 |
| Water Systems | 557 | 557 |
| Superfund Sites | 34 | 34 |
| Water Violations | 647 | 647 |
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 | Florence | Hilton Head Island |
|---|---|---|
| Median AQI | 47.0 | 43.4 |
| Good Air Days | 61.4% | 70.8% |
| Unhealthy Air Days | 0 days | N/A |
Hilton Head Island air quality shown at state level. Florence has metro-level data.
💧 Water Safety (EPA SDWIS, state-level) EPA SDWIS →
| Metric | SC | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Water Safety Score | 45/100 | 45/100 |
| Total Violations | 38,355 | 38,355 |
| Health-Based Violations | 9,705 | 9,705 |
| Systems with Violations | 65.3% | 65.3% |
🏥 Healthcare Access (HRSA, state-level) HRSA →
| Metric | SC | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Access Score | 0/100 | 0/100 |
| Population in Shortage Area | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| HPSA Designations | 264 | 264 |
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 | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Disaster Safety Score | 36/100 | 36/100 |
| NRI Risk Score (avg county) | 70.7 | 70.7 |
| Expected Annual Loss Score | 65.2 | 65.2 |
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 Florence more expensive than Hilton Head Island? ▼
Florence has a cost of living index of 86.8 compared to Hilton Head Island's 98.0 (national average = 100). Hilton Head Island is 11.2 points above Florence on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between Florence and Hilton Head Island? ▼
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $1,098/mo in Florence vs $1,816/mo in Hilton Head Island, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $850/mo to $1,582/mo.
How do salaries compare between Florence and Hilton Head Island? ▼
The average median salary across all occupations is $60,956 in Florence and $63,019 in Hilton Head Island, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. After adjusting for cost of living, $100,000 in Florence has the same purchasing power as $112,957 in Hilton Head Island.
Is Florence or Hilton Head Island safer? ▼
At the state level, SC has a violent crime rate of 439.3 per 100,000 residents compared to SC's 439.3 per 100,000. Property crime rates are 1988.2 vs 1988.2 per 100,000 respectively, based on FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
How do schools compare between Florence and Hilton Head Island? ▼
SC has 1,215 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 14.3:1, while SC has 1,215 schools at 14.3:1. Charter schools make up 7.2% of SC schools vs 7.2% in SC. 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.
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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 Editorial