Overall
- Appleton
- 92.4
- Jacksonville
- 92.1
Diff -0.3 RPP
Appleton vs Jacksonville
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Jacksonville is 0.4% less expensive than Appleton.
0.4% less expensive
Jacksonville, NC is 0.4% less expensive than Appleton, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.1 vs 92.4). A $100,000 salary in Appleton buys about the same as $99,639 in Jacksonville; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 92.4 (Appleton) vs 92.1 (Jacksonville)
- $100k in Appleton ≈ $99,639 purchasing power in Jacksonville
- Services drives the gap (-3.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:NC 92.4→92.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WI × NC
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Appleton
92.4
Cost Index
Jacksonville
92.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Appleton, WI and Jacksonville, NC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Jacksonville is 3.3 points lower. But goods and rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Appleton to $99,639 in Jacksonville, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Appleton
- 93.8
- Jacksonville
- 96.6
Diff +2.8 RPP
Services
- Appleton
- 90.6
- Jacksonville
- 87.2
Diff -3.3 RPP
Rents
- Appleton
- 70.8
- Jacksonville
- 72.1
Diff +1.3 RPP
| Category | Appleton | Jacksonville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.4 | 92.1 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 96.6 | +2.8 |
| Services | 90.6 | 87.2 | -3.3 |
| Rents | 70.8 | 72.1 | +1.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Appleton 92.4
Jacksonville 92.1
Goods
Appleton 93.8
Jacksonville 96.6
Services
Appleton 90.6
Jacksonville 87.2
Rents
Appleton 70.8
Jacksonville 72.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Appleton and Jacksonville share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 3.2 to 0.3 RPP points. Appleton remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 15.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (19.3 to 3.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Appleton RPP | Jacksonville RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.1 | 93.9 | 3.2 points Appleton higher |
| 2012 | 94.6 | 95.5 | 0.9 points Jacksonville higher |
| 2016 | 92.9 | 93.7 | 0.9 points Jacksonville higher |
| 2020 | 92.3 | 88.3 | 4.0 points Appleton higher |
| 2024 | 92.4 | 92.1 | 0.3 points Appleton higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Appleton would need to be in Jacksonville for the same purchasing power:
| In Appleton | In Jacksonville | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,819 | $-181 |
| $75,000 | $74,729 | $-271 |
| $100,000 | $99,639 | $-361 |
| $150,000 | $149,458 | $-542 |
$ in Appleton = in Jacksonville
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.4 → 92.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Jacksonville more expensive than Appleton?
Jacksonville is 0.4% less expensive than Appleton. The overall cost index is 92.1 vs 92.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Jacksonville equals $100K in Appleton?
A $100,000 salary in Appleton has the same purchasing power as $99,639 in Jacksonville. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Appleton and Jacksonville?
Rents in Appleton are indexed at 70.8 while Jacksonville is at 72.1 (national average = 100). Jacksonville has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.