Overall
- Burlington
- 93.2
- Monroe
- 93.5
Diff +0.3 RPP
Burlington vs Monroe
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Monroe is 0.3% more expensive than Burlington.
0.3% more expensive
Monroe, MI is 0.3% more expensive than Burlington, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.5 vs 93.2). A $100,000 salary in Burlington buys about the same as $100,318 in Monroe; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 93.2 (Burlington) vs 93.5 (Monroe)
- $100k in Burlington ≈ $100,318 purchasing power in Monroe
- Services drives the gap (+4.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:MI 93.2→93.5
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NC × MI
- 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
Monroe
93.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Burlington, NC and Monroe, MI 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: Monroe is 4.4 points higher. But rents 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 $100,318 in Monroe, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Burlington
- 96.6
- Monroe
- 93.7
Diff -2.9 RPP
Services
- Burlington
- 89.2
- Monroe
- 93.7
Diff +4.4 RPP
Rents
- Burlington
- 77.9
- Monroe
- 74.6
Diff -3.2 RPP
| Category | Burlington | Monroe | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.2 | 93.5 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 93.7 | -2.9 |
| Services | 89.2 | 93.7 | +4.4 |
| Rents | 77.9 | 74.6 | -3.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Burlington 93.2
Monroe 93.5
Goods
Burlington 96.6
Monroe 93.7
Services
Burlington 89.2
Monroe 93.7
Rents
Burlington 77.9
Monroe 74.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Burlington and Monroe share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 3.7 to 0.3 RPP points. Monroe remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 10.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (7.2 to 3.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Burlington RPP | Monroe RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 92.5 | 96.2 | 3.7 points Monroe higher |
| 2012 | 93.3 | 94.1 | 0.8 points Monroe higher |
| 2016 | 92.2 | 93.0 | 0.8 points Monroe higher |
| 2020 | 89.7 | 93.5 | 3.8 points Monroe higher |
| 2024 | 93.2 | 93.5 | 0.3 points Monroe 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 Monroe for the same purchasing power:
| In Burlington | In Monroe | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,159 | +$159 |
| $75,000 | $75,238 | +$238 |
| $100,000 | $100,318 | +$318 |
| $150,000 | $150,476 | +$476 |
$ in Burlington = in Monroe
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (93.2 → 93.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Monroe more expensive than Burlington?
Monroe is 0.3% more expensive than Burlington. The overall cost index is 93.5 vs 93.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Monroe equals $100K in Burlington?
A $100,000 salary in Burlington has the same purchasing power as $100,318 in Monroe. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Burlington and Monroe?
Rents in Burlington are indexed at 77.9 while Monroe is at 74.6 (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.