What is the cost of living in Panama City-Panama City Beach?

Panama City-Panama City Beach has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) of 97.3, where 100 represents the national average. Housing costs index at 96.4, which is below the national average. The average 2-bedroom rent is $1,682/month.

What is the median salary in Panama City-Panama City Beach?

The median salary in Panama City-Panama City Beach is $60,913 annually (mean: $65,250). Top occupations include Retail Salespersons, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Cashiers.

How safe is Panama City-Panama City Beach?

The violent crime rate in the Panama City-Panama City Beach area is 210 per 100,000 population (state-level data). Property crime rate is 1030 per 100K.

What are the schools like in Panama City-Panama City Beach?

The state of FL has 4,029 schools (state-level data, no metro-level federal count exists) with an average student-teacher ratio of 17.8:1. About 54% are Title I schools. Charter schools make up 18% of all schools.

How much does childcare cost in Panama City-Panama City Beach?

Infant center-based childcare in the Panama City-Panama City Beach area averages $10,505 per year. Preschool averages $7,983/year. These are state-level averages.

Is Panama City-Panama City Beach a good place to relocate?

Panama City-Panama City Beach has a Life Score of 45.1/100 (D), based on 7 of 7 available dimensions among cost of living, wages, rent, crime, schools, childcare, and environment (missing dims omitted, weights renormalized). This is a middle-of-the-pack score, where the composite lands for most US metros; look at individual dimensions to see the real trade-offs.

Where does Panama City-Panama City Beach sit among US metros on LiveAbility?

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite, Panama City-Panama City Beach ranks #336 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). That ordinal matches the /rankings/livability listing. See /methodology#corpus-placement for the exact sort basis.

Relocation profile · Federal data

Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL

LiveAbility 38.6/100 places Panama City-Panama City Beach #336 of 387 (bottom third of scored metros).

Compiled by PlainRelocate · June 15, 2026

97.3
Cost index (US=100): $1,682
2BR rent / mo: $60,913
Median salary: 38.6
LiveAbility Score

The verdict

As of June 2026, Panama City-Panama City Beach ranks #336 of 387 US metros on the LiveAbility Score (38.6/100), with its strongest marks in safety and climate.

#336
of 387 US metros · Below median: 23,372,215
metro-area population: 210
violent crimes per 100K (state-level): 4,029
schools in the state (NCES)

Weakest dimension: schools (15/100). Weigh every dimension against your own priorities, use the City Finder to re-rank by what matters to you.

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite (BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, EPA, NOAA, and FEMA inputs), Panama City-Panama City Beach ranks #336 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). Cost-of-living index 97.3 (100 = national average), median 2-bedroom rent $1,682/mo, median salary $60,913; LiveAbility Score 38.6/100, strongest in safety and climate.

Signature: LiveAbility 38.6/100 places Panama City-Panama City Beach #336 of 387 (bottom third of scored metros).

Purchasing power tightens: BEA RPP 97.3 lands in the dearer third of scored metros (cuts at 91.5 / 97.0). Median 2BR rent $1,682/mo.

LiveAbility 38.6/100 puts Panama City-Panama City Beach in the bottom third (#336 of 387).

BLS OEWS total employment in the Panama City-Panama City Beach area is 84,900.

Panama City-Panama City Beach vs all US metros by LiveAbility Score

Where this metro's LiveAbility Score falls among every scored US metro (composite placement, not a desirability verdict)

39 Top 87% higher than 13% of 387 US metros

Metros banded by LiveAbility Score (0–100)

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainRelocate LiveAbility Score · June 2026

Panama City-Panama City Beach housing and rent

HUD Fair Market Rents for the Panama City-Panama City Beach MSA; housing RPP 96.4 (100 = national average); 2BR $1,682/mo.

Studio

$1,426

/month

1 Bedroom

$1,480

/month

2 Bedroom

$1,682

/month

3 Bedroom

$2,169

/month

4 Bedroom

$2,689

/month

Panama City-Panama City Beach wages and employment

Panama City-Panama City Beach posts 84,900 total employment with median salary $60,913 against a dearer-than-average RPP.

Median Salary

$60,913

Mean Salary

$65,250

Total Employment

84,900

Top Occupations by Employment

Occupation	Median Salary
Retail Salespersons	$32,290
Fast Food and Counter Workers	$28,050
Cashiers	$29,080
Waiters and Waitresses	$34,990
General and Operations Managers	$86,070

Schools & Education

State-level education data for the Panama City-Panama City Beach area from NCES.

Schools

4,029

Enrollment

2,838,009

Student:Teacher

17.8:1

Title I %

54%

Childcare Costs

State-average childcare costs for the Panama City-Panama City Beach area (DOL data).

Infant (Center)

$10,505

per year

Toddler (Center)

$8,611

per year

Preschool (Center)

$7,983

per year

Life Score Breakdown

Panama City-Panama City Beach's composite Life Score is 45.1/100 (D), computed across 7 of 7 dimensions.

Cost

32/100

Weak

Wages

25/100

Weak

Rent

22/100

Weak

Crime

85/100

Elite

Schools

85/100

Elite

Childcare

48/100

Average

Environment

44/100

Below average

LiveAbility Score

View full rankings →

Panama City-Panama City Beach ranks #336 out of 387 metros with a LiveAbility Score of 38.6/100 - a composite of 8 of 8 quality-of-life dimensions from federal data. Customize the weights to match your priorities →

Strongest dimension: Safety (85/100)

Safety

85
Climate

65
Low hazard

56
Cost of living

32
Air quality

32
Job market

25
Housing

22
Schools

15

What this shows Panama City-Panama City Beach's strongest dimensions are safety and climate; its weakest among scored dims is schools at 15/100. Default weights: cost 18%, jobs & housing 15% each, safety & schools 12%, air & hazard 10%, climate 8%.

Compare Panama City-Panama City Beach to

Rochester Rockford Rocky Mount Rome Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom Saginaw

Metros near Panama City-Panama City Beach on cost, LiveAbility, or wages

Nearest out-of-state neighbors to Panama City-Panama City Beach on BEA RPP, LiveAbility, or BLS median salary, a different lens than the size-ranked list.

Similar cost of living (BEA RPP)

Similar LiveAbility score

† No air quality reading on file for this metro, so its score is built from fewer than all 8 dimensions: the missing dimension is omitted and the remaining weights renormalized. It is not directly comparable with a full 8-dimension score.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026

Panama City-Panama City Beach cost figures follow BEA Regional Price Parities and HUD Fair Market Rents; Panama City-Panama City Beach wages and LiveAbility inputs follow BLS OEWS plus the federal sources listed in methodology. This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Scores are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation. How this data is sourced.

Verify with BEA → · Verify with BLS → · Verify with HUD → · Verify with NOAA → · Verify with FEMA → · Verify with Census →

Considering Panama City-Panama City Beach as your next city?

Panama City-Panama City Beach in numbers: a $60,913 median salary, a 97.3 cost index and a LiveAbility rank of #336 of 387.

Run Panama City-Panama City Beach's pay and cost figures against your own budget. Salary calculator
Compare Panama City-Panama City Beach with a second city on the same dimensions. Compare Panama City-Panama City Beach
Abilene is the nearest related metro in this corpus, and the two are easy to compare. Abilene profile
A cheaper cost index and a higher LiveAbility score can point in different directions; this guide covers how to weigh the trade-off. Cost vs quality guide

Read the cost, salary and score figures as federal-data percentiles, not as advice to move.