Overall
- Fayetteville
- 92.0
Diff +0.1 RPP
Augusta-Richmond County vs Fayetteville
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Fayetteville is 0.1% more expensive than Augusta-Richmond County.
0.1% more expensive
Fayetteville, NC is 0.1% more expensive than Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.0 vs 91.9). A $100,000 salary in Augusta-Richmond County buys about the same as $100,082 in Fayetteville; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 91.9 (Augusta-Richmond County) vs 92.0 (Fayetteville)
- $100k in Augusta-Richmond County ≈ $100,082 purchasing power in Fayetteville
- Rents drives the gap (+2.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair GA:NC 91.9→92.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE GA × 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.
Augusta-Richmond County
91.9
Cost Index
Fayetteville
92.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC and Fayetteville, NC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Fayetteville is 2.5 points higher. But services 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 housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Augusta-Richmond County corresponds to $100,082 in Fayetteville.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Fayetteville
- 96.6
Diff +0.3 RPP
Services
- Fayetteville
- 87.8
Diff -1.7 RPP
Rents
- Fayetteville
- 73.1
Diff +2.5 RPP
| Category | Augusta-Richmond County | Fayetteville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.9 | 92.0 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 96.6 | +0.3 |
| Services | 89.5 | 87.8 | -1.7 |
| Rents | 70.6 | 73.1 | +2.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Augusta-Richmond County 91.9
Fayetteville 92.0
Goods
Augusta-Richmond County 96.3
Fayetteville 96.6
Services
Augusta-Richmond County 89.5
Fayetteville 87.8
Rents
Augusta-Richmond County 70.6
Fayetteville 73.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Augusta-Richmond County and Fayetteville share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 1.3 to 0.1 RPP points. Fayetteville remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 2.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (3.9 to 1.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Augusta-Richmond County RPP | Fayetteville RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 91.1 | 92.4 | 1.3 points Fayetteville higher |
| 2012 | 93.5 | 94.1 | 0.6 points Fayetteville higher |
| 2016 | 93.6 | 92.0 | 1.6 points Augusta-Richmond County higher |
| 2020 | 89.7 | 89.0 | 0.7 points Augusta-Richmond County higher |
| 2024 | 91.9 | 92.0 | 0.1 points Fayetteville 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 Augusta-Richmond County would need to be in Fayetteville for the same purchasing power:
| In Augusta-Richmond County | In Fayetteville | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,041 | +$41 |
| $75,000 | $75,061 | +$61 |
| $100,000 | $100,082 | +$82 |
| $150,000 | $150,122 | +$122 |
$ in Augusta-Richmond County = in Fayetteville
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.9 → 92.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fayetteville more expensive than Augusta-Richmond County?
Fayetteville is 0.1% more expensive than Augusta-Richmond County. The overall cost index is 92.0 vs 91.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Fayetteville equals $100K in Augusta-Richmond County?
A $100,000 salary in Augusta-Richmond County has the same purchasing power as $100,082 in Fayetteville. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Augusta-Richmond County and Fayetteville?
Rents in Augusta-Richmond County are indexed at 70.6 while Fayetteville is at 73.1 (national average = 100). Fayetteville 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.