Overall
Diff -0.7 RPP
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos vs Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia is 0.7% less expensive than Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos.
0.7% less expensive
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC is 0.7% less expensive than Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.3 vs 98.1). A $100,000 salary in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos buys about the same as $99,268 in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.1 (Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos) vs 97.3 (Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia)
- $100k in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos ≈ $99,268 purchasing power in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
- Rents drives the gap (-22.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:NC 98.1→97.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × 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.
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos
98.1
Cost Index
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
97.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX and Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.7 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia is 22.7 points lower. But services and goods 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 Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos corresponds to $99,268 in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +2.8 RPP
Services
Diff +7.1 RPP
Rents
Diff -22.7 RPP
| Category | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.1 | 97.3 | -0.7 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 96.6 | +2.8 |
| Services | 82.0 | 89.2 | +7.1 |
| Rents | 120.4 | 97.6 | -22.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos 98.1
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 97.3
Goods
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos 93.8
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 96.6
Services
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos 82.0
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 89.2
Rents
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos 120.4
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 97.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos would need to be in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia for the same purchasing power:
| In Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos | In Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,634 | $-366 |
| $75,000 | $74,451 | $-549 |
| $100,000 | $99,268 | $-732 |
| $150,000 | $148,902 | $-1,098 |
$ in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos = in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.1 → 97.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia more expensive than Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos?
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia is 0.7% less expensive than Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos. The overall cost index is 97.3 vs 98.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia equals $100K in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos?
A $100,000 salary in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos has the same purchasing power as $99,268 in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos and Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia?
Rents in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos are indexed at 120.4 while Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia is at 97.6 (national average = 100). Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos 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.