05/04/2024
Cost of Living in Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda
Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda are located right next to each other in Southwest Florida, and they are both very popular among retirees, not only because they're both beautiful places to live, but also because of the cost of living.
What makes this area so attractive from a cost of living perspective?
Let's take a closer look!
Home Prices
Homes at the Kings Gate 55+ Community in Port Charlotte
The price you pay to buy a home will be one of the biggest expenses you have when moving to Florida, so we like to look at home prices first when doing our cost of living assessments.
According to data from FloridaRealtors.org, the average sales price for a home in Florida in 2023 was $527,324. That was up from $513,131 in 2022.
If you plan on buying a home in Port Charlotte or Punta Gorda (both are located within the Punta Gorda Metropolitan Statistical Area), you'll already be saving money compared to the average for the rest of the state:
The average sale price in 2022 was $468,539 and in 2023 it was slightly less at $443,219.
You can do a lot with nearly $70k in savings!
Property Taxes
The next big expense you'll have while living the Florida retirement dream will be your property taxes.
Charlotte County where Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda are located has a property tax rate of just under 17 mils per thousand, which is roughly in the “middle of the road” as far as property taxes in Florida are concerned.
I go over the entire Florida property tax formula in my book, but to keep things simple here, this means that for every $1,000 of assessed value, you'll be paying about $17.
So let's say your home is assessed for $400,000 the math would be 400 x $17 = $6,800 per year, or about $566 a month.
If you are planning to live here full-time or at least long enough to claim residency, you should know that Florida has some pretty generous homestead exemptions that can reduce your property taxes and keep yearly increases in check.
Again, that's a topic for another day, but you can read more about it in The Florida Retirement Handbook.
Property Insurance
The cost of homeowner's insurance is particularly hard to pin down and give an estimate for, in large part because rates vary widely between insurance companies.
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation maintains a rate comparison tool in which you can select the type of property, the county, and view average rates that several insurance companies have reported for that type of property in that area.
For our purposes, I chose a $300,000 new construction home in Charlotte County.
Look at this WIDE range of rates:
You might have heard horror stories about Florida insurance rates in the news or on social media, and no, it's not as cheap as it used to be. But if this list is any indication, reasonable rates are available, you just need to shop around a bit to find them.
Other Costs
The website BestPlaces.net is one of my favorite go-to resources for in-depth data about various places, and they've looked at the overall cost of living in Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda to include other costs like healthcare, groceries, transportation, utilities, and other necessities.
They found that overall both of these places are about 9.1% LESS expensive than the state average cost of living, and about 6.3% LESS than the national average cost of living.
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Where to Retire in Port Charlotte
Located in Port Charlotte, Kings Gate offers easy access to beaches, marinas, wildlife sanctuaries, airports, and more, many within a 15-minute drive or less.
A friendly, gated neighborhood community for residents age 55 and up, Kings Gate homeowners enjoy access to a recreation center, Olympic-sized swimming pool and spa, tennis courts, on-site activities director, and a variety of resident clubs and social events. Membership to the 18-hole golf course and facilities are additionally available.
Prices start in the low $300k’s, which is well below the average home price in this area.
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