Charleston → Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater
Relocation analysis based on 7 federal data sources
Should you move?
Moving from Charleston to Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater is unfavorable: BEA regional price parity goes from 88.7 to 100.9 (US = 100), and HUD 2-bedroom rent rises by $1,108/mo.
- +$6,543
- BLS median salary higher in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater
- 242 to 210
- violent crimes per 100K (FBI UCR, state-level)
- 13.1:1 to 17.8:1
- NCES student-teacher ratio
- $1,531
- DOL infant care higher / yr in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater
BEA Regional Price Parity, HUD Fair Market Rent, BLS OEWS, FBI UCR, NCES, and DOL. The table below lets you override the composite with your own priorities.
Pros of Moving
- + $7K higher median salary
Cons of Moving
- - 12% higher cost of living
- - $1108/mo more expensive rent (2BR)
- - Higher student-teacher ratios
- - More expensive childcare
Purchasing power tightens: BEA RPP rises from 88.7 to 100.9, so the same paycheck buys less in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater (ratio 1.14). HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent rises $1,108/mo ($13,296/yr) from $869 in Charleston to $1,977 in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater.
Charleston still leads on 5 of 7 federal dimensions, the origin keeps the edge. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater sits #338 of 387 metros on PlainRelocate livability (bottom third of the corpus). Charleston is #3/387 on the same ranking. Composite verdict: Unfavorable. Override it with the dimension table below.
BLS OEWS median salary moves $6,543 higher ($61,861 → $68,404). Labor-market size: 94,760 tracked jobs at origin vs 1,402,180 at destination.
State retirement friendliness favors staying put: West Virginia scores 82 (A, #2/51) vs Florida at 62 (C, #23/51). Full state tax and healthcare sub-scores sit in the retirement desk below.
State retirement friendliness
Primary-state scores from PlainRelocate's retirement registry (tax + healthcare + climate composite). Metro pairs use each metro's primary state abbreviation.
- Income tax
- 80
- Property tax
- 86
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 64
- Income tax
- 100
- Property tax
- 67
- Estate tax
- 100
- Healthcare
- 12
Full retirement ranking · Source composite documented on methodology (Tax Foundation + AARP tax guides + federal healthcare/climate inputs).
Salary Adjustment Calculator
Enter your current salary in Charleston to see what you'd need to earn in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater to maintain the same purchasing power.
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro profile · Livability rankings · Methodology
Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA; retirement desk: Tax Foundation + AARP tax guides June 2026