Overall
- Carson City
- 98.1
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 97.6
Diff -0.6 RPP
Carson City vs Durham-Chapel Hill
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Durham-Chapel Hill is 0.6% less expensive than Carson City.
0.6% less expensive
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC is 0.6% less expensive than Carson City, NV on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.6 vs 98.1). A $100,000 salary in Carson City buys about the same as $99,431 in Durham-Chapel Hill; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.1 (Carson City) vs 97.6 (Durham-Chapel Hill)
- $100k in Carson City ≈ $99,431 purchasing power in Durham-Chapel Hill
- Services drives the gap (-3.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NV:NC 98.1→97.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NV × 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.
Carson City
98.1
Cost Index
Durham-Chapel Hill
97.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Carson City, NV and Durham-Chapel Hill, NC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.6 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Durham-Chapel Hill is 3.4 points lower. But 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 Carson City to $99,431 in Durham-Chapel Hill, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Carson City
- 96.3
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 96.6
Diff +0.3 RPP
Services
- Carson City
- 92.7
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 89.3
Diff -3.4 RPP
Rents
- Carson City
- 101.2
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 98.9
Diff -2.2 RPP
| Category | Carson City | Durham-Chapel Hill | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.1 | 97.6 | -0.6 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 96.6 | +0.3 |
| Services | 92.7 | 89.3 | -3.4 |
| Rents | 101.2 | 98.9 | -2.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Carson City 98.1
Durham-Chapel Hill 97.6
Goods
Carson City 96.3
Durham-Chapel Hill 96.6
Services
Carson City 92.7
Durham-Chapel Hill 89.3
Rents
Carson City 101.2
Durham-Chapel Hill 98.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Carson City would need to be in Durham-Chapel Hill for the same purchasing power:
| In Carson City | In Durham-Chapel Hill | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,716 | $-284 |
| $75,000 | $74,574 | $-426 |
| $100,000 | $99,431 | $-569 |
| $150,000 | $149,147 | $-853 |
$ in Carson City = in Durham-Chapel Hill
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.1 → 97.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Durham-Chapel Hill more expensive than Carson City?
Durham-Chapel Hill is 0.6% less expensive than Carson City. The overall cost index is 97.6 vs 98.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Durham-Chapel Hill equals $100K in Carson City?
A $100,000 salary in Carson City has the same purchasing power as $99,431 in Durham-Chapel Hill. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Carson City and Durham-Chapel Hill?
Rents in Carson City are indexed at 101.2 while Durham-Chapel Hill is at 98.9 (national average = 100). Carson City 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.