Have you been thinking about moving to Florida? If you have, you probably know all the pros and cons of living in Florida. That isn’t what we are here to talk about. We are here to talk about the cost of life in Florida. The cost of life is something that interests people the most when moving from one state to another. So if you have been thinking about moving to Florida and starting a new chapter there but aren’t really sure what the cost of life in Florida is, you came to the right place.
Housing costs in Florida
Everyone needs a home to live in and that is why the first thing we will be talking about is the housing costs. Usually, housing prices are what make people move to another city or state. This is exactly the case with Florida. Florida was hit hard by the housing market crash in 2008 and that is when home prices took a dive. In some cities, the prices managed to go back up the way they were. But some places, like Jacksonville for example, still have low housing costs. In Jacksonville, the median home price is around $130,000 which is pretty low. For that reason, most residents of Jacksonville own their homes.
But compared to the whole country, Florida truly does have pretty affordable housing even in big cities. In some states moving to a smaller town can help cut housing costs but in Florida, it doesn’t matter as much. Regardless of that, Miami is a much more renter-centric city. More than 70% of Miami’s residents are renting their homes. This is probably because a two-bedroom apartment in Miami has a median rent of $1,350. The median home value is $317,000 in Miami. Still not a big price to pay for an amazing apartment or house in one of America’s biggest cities.
Utilities
Even though housing might be on the cheaper side, the energy prices are on the high side in Florida. Based on information from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, residents of Florida pay a monthly electricity bill on average $130. That’s 13% higher than the national average.
But this is connected to the weather in Florida. Everyone knows that Florida is a very hot state. It is summer almost all year round. And if you don’t have your air conditioning on, it will be very hot inside. And if you are moving with pets to Florida, you will need to keep the AC on all the time. Having air conditioning turned on most of the time brings up the electricity bill. So, if you are worried about spending a lot of money on bills in Florida, you might want to cut down the use of AC. The same goes for the water bills. Because it is so hot, people tend to shower more often meaning the water bills are higher. It is just logic.
Food
Prices of food differentiate from city to city like in every state. For example, sushi in Miami will be much cheaper than sushi in a small town in the middle of Florida. This is because Miami has fresh seafood as well as a large number of sushi restaurants. A smaller city in central Florida has less access to fresh fish, therefore, it is a bit more expensive. And as it is a small city, there won’t be as many sushi places there as in Miami and that is another reason why the price would be higher.
But other food items cost almost the same everywhere. A gallon of milk is just under $4 and a pound of apples is around $3. It, of course, depends on where you are buying and which brand but the prices are mostly the same throughout the state. So after you move to Florida with Authority Moving Group, you need to start going to different stores and comparing the prices if you want to save some money on grocery shopping.
Taxes
One of the main reasons why people move to Florida is taxes. Florida is a low-tax state. This means that taxes don’t pay a huge role in the cost of living as they do in other states in America. As a matter of fact, the state of Florida doesn’t have a state income tax. As far as other types of taxes go, the average effective property tax rate in Florida is 1.02%. This is much lower than the national average. The statewide sales tax is 6%. But Floridians pay high gas taxes as not everything can be perfect. Florida’s gas tax is 41.36 cents per gallon which makes Florida’s gas tax the 10th-highest in the nation.
Alcohol has its own tax, 48 cents per gallon on beer and $6.50 per gallon on spirits. There is also a special tax on communications services. Consumers pay 7.44% extra on all phone, internet and television services in Florida. Some other states in the country have taxes like these too.
Conclusion
Certain things in Florida cost much less than in other states. But there are also things that cost more than in other states. We can’t really tell you “yes, Florida is cheap” or “Florida is very expensive”. It all comes down to which of these things you use and need and how big is your income. If you have a high income, Florida might be the state to move to as you will be living a far more affordable life as far as housing goes. But if your income is on the lower side, you might find Florida to be expensive. You could say that the cost of life in Florida depends on where you live and how much you earn.