Overall
- Wilmington
- 96.4
Diff -2.4 RPP
Atlantic City-Hammonton vs Wilmington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Wilmington is 2.5% less expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton.
2.5% less expensive
Wilmington, NC is 2.5% less expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.4 vs 98.9). A $100,000 salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton buys about the same as $97,537 in Wilmington; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.9 (Atlantic City-Hammonton) vs 96.4 (Wilmington)
- $100k in Atlantic City-Hammonton ≈ $97,537 purchasing power in Wilmington
- Services drives the gap (-21.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NJ:NC 98.9→96.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NJ × NC
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Wilmington, NC is 2.5% less expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.4-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Wilmington 21.3 points lower than Atlantic City-Hammonton. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Atlantic City-Hammonton to $97,537 in Wilmington, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Atlantic City-Hammonton and Wilmington share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 17.5 to 2.4 RPP points. Atlantic City-Hammonton remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 44.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (49.7 to 5.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Atlantic City-Hammonton RPP | Wilmington RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 110.7 | 93.2 | 17.5 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2012 | 104.6 | 95.2 | 9.4 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2016 | 102.6 | 95.1 | 7.5 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2020 | 101.2 | 94.0 | 7.1 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2024 | 98.9 | 96.4 | 2.4 points Atlantic City-Hammonton 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Wilmington
- 96.6
Diff -3.2 RPP
Services
- Atlantic City-Hammonton
- 109.2
- Wilmington
- 87.9
Diff -21.3 RPP
Rents
- Wilmington
- 93.2
Diff -5.5 RPP
| Category | Atlantic City-Hammonton | Wilmington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.9 | 96.4 | -2.4 |
| Goods | 99.8 | 96.6 | -3.2 |
| Services | 109.2 | 87.9 | -21.3 |
| Rents | 98.7 | 93.2 | -5.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.9
Wilmington 96.4
Goods
Atlantic City-Hammonton 99.8
Wilmington 96.6
Services
Atlantic City-Hammonton 109.2
Wilmington 87.9
Rents
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.7
Wilmington 93.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton would need to be in Wilmington for the same purchasing power:
| In Atlantic City-Hammonton | In Wilmington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,768 | $-1,232 |
| $75,000 | $73,153 | $-1,847 |
| $100,000 | $97,537 | $-2,463 |
| $150,000 | $146,305 | $-3,695 |
$ in Atlantic City-Hammonton = in Wilmington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.9 → 96.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Atlantic City-Hammonton
98.9
Cost Index
Wilmington
96.4
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Wilmington more expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton?
Wilmington is 2.5% less expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton. The overall cost index is 96.4 vs 98.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Wilmington equals $100K in Atlantic City-Hammonton?
A $100,000 salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton has the same purchasing power as $97,537 in Wilmington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Atlantic City-Hammonton and Wilmington?
Rents in Atlantic City-Hammonton are indexed at 98.7 while Wilmington is at 93.2 (national average = 100). Atlantic City-Hammonton 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.