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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Fresno to Greenville

Fresno, CA vs Greenville, SC

Simple answer

You'd likely save $178 a month in Greenville.

This is the HUD 2-bedroom fair-market rent for October 2026 through September 2027. It is not your lease.

The largest cost gap in this pair is housing prices. The BEA housing price parity differs by 18.9 points (Fresno 95.7, Greenville 76.8).

California taxes wages at rates up to 13.30%. South Carolina taxes wages at rates up to 6.00%. Combined sales tax differs by 1.5 percentage points, higher in California. The effective property tax gap is 0.26 percentage points, higher in California.

After a move from California to South Carolina, these benefit results change for a family of four at $40,000 and a single adult at $18,000: Marketplace premium tax credits, Medicaid and CHIP.

A $75,000 salary in Fresno lines up with about $68,467 in Greenville on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Fresno

Fresno, CA

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,685
HUD area
Fresno, CA HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,513
All-items price parity
102.2
Goods price parity
105.2
Utilities price parity
161.0
Mean commute
24.7 min
Median household income
$74,983

Greenville

Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,507
HUD area
Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, SC HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,236
All-items price parity
93.3
Goods price parity
96.3
Utilities price parity
88.8
Mean commute
24.4 min
Median household income
$75,881

Equivalent salary

The first number keeps the same place in the national price level. The second also runs 2026 federal income tax, employee Social Security and Medicare, and a simplified state income tax. Groceries use the BEA goods price parity, not a grocery receipt.

Same buying power

$68,467

Salary in Greenville that matches the 2024 all-items regional price parity.

After state and federal tax

$67,903

Gross salary in Greenville whose after-tax pay buys the same basket, using price parities.

Rent only

$67,077

Scales the salary by the ratio of HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rents. Rent is not the whole budget.

Taxes on the two sides of the move

TaxCaliforniaSouth Carolina
State income tax on wagesup to 13.30%up to 6.00%
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20269.0%7.5%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.71%0.45%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $2,828 a year in California and $1,786 in South Carolina. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in South Carolina

Same household, $40,000 a year, scored once in California and once in South Carolina. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    FresnoLikely eligible

    GreenvilleLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    FresnoLikely eligible

    GreenvilleLikely eligible

  • WIC

    FresnoLikely eligible

    GreenvilleLikely eligible

  • School meals

    FresnoLikely eligible

    GreenvilleLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    FresnoMaybe

    GreenvilleMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    FresnoLikely eligible

    GreenvilleLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    FresnoLikely eligible

    GreenvilleLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    FresnoUnlikely

    GreenvilleLikely eligible

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    FresnoLikely eligible

    GreenvilleLikely eligible

  • SSI

    FresnoUnlikely

    GreenvilleUnlikely

Marketplace premium tax credits changes. In Fresno the result is “Unlikely — Medicaid is the closer program.” In Greenville it is “Likely inside the 2026 subsidy range.” California expanded Medicaid, and this income is in the Medicaid range. Marketplace subsidies are usually not the program in that case.

Medicaid guide for South Carolina · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

How the salary and tax math works · The reverse city order redirects to this address.