What salary do you need to live in Florence, SC?

Florence housing costs at a glance

Median gross rent, meaning contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities, runs $770, $889 and $1,014 a month for one, two and three bedrooms across Florence, SC. The largest of those is 32% more than the smallest.

The median value of owner-occupied homes in the metro is $170,800. That is only 3.1× the area's median household income of $54,443, a low ratio by national standards.

The Regional Price Parity, BEA's index of local prices with the US at 100, is 86.8 here. Below 100 means a paycheck stretches further: $100,000 in Florence has the buying power of roughly $115,242 at national average prices.

Florence: the pre-tax income for each grade

For two bedrooms, $81,000 is where Florence turns Comfortable. Below that, $41,000 marks the start of Okay and $19,000 the start of Tight; under $19,000 the score reads Stretched. Rent at the Comfortable line is 13% of gross pay.

Royal, the top band, starts at $220,000. At that income rent is 5% of pay and the median home 0.8× income.

How they were found: the same scoring function the calculator runs was evaluated at rising incomes until each cutoff was crossed, and the crossing rounded up to a whole $1,000.

Florence at four common salaries

Take a $75,000 salary. In a one-bedroom the rent share is 12% and the score 65, Comfortable; in a three-bedroom the share rises to 16% and the score falls to 61, Okay.

Of the four salaries, $100,000 is the first where a two-bedroom reads Comfortable or better; $75,000 still lands at Okay.

Where Florence falls nationally

Ranked against all 387 metros, Florence sits 356th on overall price level and 363rd on the two-bedroom rent median, counting from the most expensive. Its median home value ranks 349th.

For a sense of scale, the metros just above and below it on two-bedroom rent are Monroe, LA ($892) and Enid, OK ($888).

Comparing Florence with South Carolina

Compared with South Carolina as a whole, two-bedroom rent in Florence is 23% lower ($889 vs. $1,148) and the median home is 34% lower ($170,800 vs. $259,000).

Run South Carolina's statewide medians through the same score and Comfortable begins at $132,000; Florence's line is −39% from that.

The nearest matches in South Carolina, judged on rent and price parity together, are Sumter, SC, Spartanburg, SC, and Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC.

Does the typical Florence income clear the bar?

A household at the Florence median income of $54,443 would see a two-bedroom score of 54 — Okay — with rent at 20% of income. The Comfortable line is 49% above what the median household makes. For South Carolina as a whole, the median household income of $69,324 scores 47 against statewide rents. Household income can include more than one earner, so a single salary of the same size goes less far.

Estimates use pre-tax income and public data; they are not financial advice.