Overall
- Burlington
- 93.2
Diff +0.1 RPP
Burlington vs Greenville-Anderson-Greer
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Greenville-Anderson-Greer is 0.1% more expensive than Burlington.
0.1% more expensive
Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC is 0.1% more expensive than Burlington, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.3 vs 93.2). A $100,000 salary in Burlington buys about the same as $100,069 in Greenville-Anderson-Greer; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 93.2 (Burlington) vs 93.3 (Greenville-Anderson-Greer)
- $100k in Burlington ≈ $100,069 purchasing power in Greenville-Anderson-Greer
- Rents drives the gap (-1.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:SC 93.2→93.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NC × SC
- 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
Greenville-Anderson-Greer
93.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Burlington, NC and Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC 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: Greenville-Anderson-Greer is 1.0 points lower. But rents and 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 Burlington corresponds to $100,069 in Greenville-Anderson-Greer.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Burlington
- 96.6
Diff -0.3 RPP
Services
- Burlington
- 89.2
Diff -0.5 RPP
Rents
- Burlington
- 77.9
Diff -1.0 RPP
| Category | Burlington | Greenville-Anderson-Greer | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.2 | 93.3 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 96.3 | -0.3 |
| Services | 89.2 | 88.8 | -0.5 |
| Rents | 77.9 | 76.8 | -1.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Burlington 93.2
Greenville-Anderson-Greer 93.3
Goods
Burlington 96.6
Greenville-Anderson-Greer 96.3
Services
Burlington 89.2
Greenville-Anderson-Greer 88.8
Rents
Burlington 77.9
Greenville-Anderson-Greer 76.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Burlington and Greenville-Anderson-Greer share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 1.2 to 0.1 RPP points. Greenville-Anderson-Greer remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 3.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (4.7 to 1.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Burlington RPP | Greenville-Anderson-Greer RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 92.5 | 91.3 | 1.2 points Burlington higher |
| 2012 | 93.3 | 93.2 | 0.1 points Burlington higher |
| 2016 | 92.2 | 93.7 | 1.5 points Greenville-Anderson-Greer higher |
| 2020 | 89.7 | 90.3 | 0.6 points Greenville-Anderson-Greer higher |
| 2024 | 93.2 | 93.3 | 0.1 points Greenville-Anderson-Greer 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 Greenville-Anderson-Greer for the same purchasing power:
| In Burlington | In Greenville-Anderson-Greer | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,034 | +$34 |
| $75,000 | $75,052 | +$52 |
| $100,000 | $100,069 | +$69 |
| $150,000 | $150,103 | +$103 |
$ in Burlington = in Greenville-Anderson-Greer
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (93.2 → 93.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Greenville-Anderson-Greer more expensive than Burlington?
Greenville-Anderson-Greer is 0.1% more expensive than Burlington. The overall cost index is 93.3 vs 93.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Greenville-Anderson-Greer equals $100K in Burlington?
A $100,000 salary in Burlington has the same purchasing power as $100,069 in Greenville-Anderson-Greer. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Burlington and Greenville-Anderson-Greer?
Rents in Burlington are indexed at 77.9 while Greenville-Anderson-Greer is at 76.8 (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.