Overall
- Burlington
- 93.2
- Binghamton
- 92.9
Diff -0.3 RPP
Burlington vs Binghamton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Binghamton is 0.4% less expensive than Burlington.
0.4% less expensive
Binghamton, NY is 0.4% less expensive than Burlington, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.9 vs 93.2). A $100,000 salary in Burlington buys about the same as $99,643 in Binghamton; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 93.2 (Burlington) vs 92.9 (Binghamton)
- $100k in Burlington ≈ $99,643 purchasing power in Binghamton
- Services drives the gap (+42.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:NY 93.2→92.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NC × NY
- 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.
Burlington
93.2
Cost Index
Binghamton
92.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Burlington, NC and Binghamton, NY 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: Binghamton is 42.3 points higher. 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Burlington to $99,643 in Binghamton, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Burlington
- 96.6
- Binghamton
- 99.7
Diff +3.1 RPP
Services
- Burlington
- 89.2
- Binghamton
- 131.6
Diff +42.3 RPP
Rents
- Burlington
- 77.9
- Binghamton
- 69.7
Diff -8.2 RPP
| Category | Burlington | Binghamton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.2 | 92.9 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 99.7 | +3.1 |
| Services | 89.2 | 131.6 | +42.3 |
| Rents | 77.9 | 69.7 | -8.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Burlington 93.2
Binghamton 92.9
Goods
Burlington 96.6
Binghamton 99.7
Services
Burlington 89.2
Binghamton 131.6
Rents
Burlington 77.9
Binghamton 69.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Burlington and Binghamton share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 4.5 to 0.3 RPP points. Burlington remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 12.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (4.3 to 8.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Burlington RPP | Binghamton RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 92.5 | 97.0 | 4.5 points Binghamton higher |
| 2012 | 93.3 | 94.9 | 1.6 points Binghamton higher |
| 2016 | 92.2 | 96.1 | 3.9 points Binghamton higher |
| 2020 | 89.7 | 96.9 | 7.2 points Binghamton higher |
| 2024 | 93.2 | 92.9 | 0.3 points Burlington 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 Burlington would need to be in Binghamton for the same purchasing power:
| In Burlington | In Binghamton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,821 | $-179 |
| $75,000 | $74,732 | $-268 |
| $100,000 | $99,643 | $-357 |
| $150,000 | $149,464 | $-536 |
$ in Burlington = in Binghamton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (93.2 → 92.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Binghamton more expensive than Burlington?
Binghamton is 0.4% less expensive than Burlington. The overall cost index is 92.9 vs 93.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Binghamton equals $100K in Burlington?
A $100,000 salary in Burlington has the same purchasing power as $99,643 in Binghamton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Burlington and Binghamton?
Rents in Burlington are indexed at 77.9 while Binghamton is at 69.7 (national average = 100). Burlington 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.