Overall
- Charleston
- 88.7
Diff -0.2 RPP
Charleston vs Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton is 0.3% less expensive than Charleston.
0.3% less expensive
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC is 0.3% less expensive than Charleston, WV on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 88.5 vs 88.7). A $100,000 salary in Charleston buys about the same as $99,740 in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 88.7 (Charleston) vs 88.5 (Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton)
- $100k in Charleston ≈ $99,740 purchasing power in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton
- Rents drives the gap (+8.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WV:NC 88.7→88.5
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WV × 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.
Charleston
88.7
Cost Index
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton
88.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Charleston, WV and Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton is 8.2 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 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 Charleston corresponds to $99,740 in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Charleston
- 96.3
Diff +0.4 RPP
Services
- Charleston
- 91.7
Diff -3.9 RPP
Rents
- Charleston
- 51.4
Diff +8.2 RPP
| Category | Charleston | Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 88.7 | 88.5 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 96.6 | +0.4 |
| Services | 91.7 | 87.8 | -3.9 |
| Rents | 51.4 | 59.6 | +8.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Charleston 88.7
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 88.5
Goods
Charleston 96.3
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 96.6
Services
Charleston 91.7
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 87.8
Rents
Charleston 51.4
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 59.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Charleston and Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.8 to 0.2 RPP points. Charleston remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 16.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (12.1 to 3.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Charleston RPP | Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 90.7 | 90.0 | 0.8 points Charleston higher |
| 2012 | 93.4 | 90.9 | 2.5 points Charleston higher |
| 2016 | 92.7 | 90.9 | 1.8 points Charleston higher |
| 2020 | 87.4 | 87.0 | 0.4 points Charleston higher |
| 2024 | 88.7 | 88.5 | 0.2 points Charleston 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 Charleston would need to be in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton for the same purchasing power:
| In Charleston | In Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,870 | $-130 |
| $75,000 | $74,805 | $-195 |
| $100,000 | $99,740 | $-260 |
| $150,000 | $149,609 | $-391 |
$ in Charleston = in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.7 → 88.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton more expensive than Charleston?
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton is 0.3% less expensive than Charleston. The overall cost index is 88.5 vs 88.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton equals $100K in Charleston?
A $100,000 salary in Charleston has the same purchasing power as $99,740 in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Charleston and Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton?
Rents in Charleston are indexed at 51.4 while Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton is at 59.6 (national average = 100). Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 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.