Overall
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 97.6
Diff +0.2 RPP
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia vs Durham-Chapel Hill
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Durham-Chapel Hill is 0.2% more expensive than Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia.
0.2% more expensive
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC is 0.2% more expensive than Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.6 vs 97.3). A $100,000 salary in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia buys about the same as $100,230 in Durham-Chapel Hill; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 97.3 (Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia) vs 97.6 (Durham-Chapel Hill)
- $100k in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia ≈ $100,230 purchasing power in Durham-Chapel Hill
- Rents drives the gap (+1.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:NC 97.3→97.6
PHOTO-FINISH · SAME-STATE · RENT-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- SAME-STATE Same state · NC
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- 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.
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
97.3
Cost Index
Durham-Chapel Hill
97.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC and Durham-Chapel Hill, 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 leads the difference, with Durham-Chapel Hill 1.3 points higher than Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
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 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia corresponds to $100,230 in Durham-Chapel Hill.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 96.6
Diff +0.0 RPP
Services
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 89.3
Diff +0.2 RPP
Rents
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 98.9
Diff +1.3 RPP
| Category | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia | Durham-Chapel Hill | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.3 | 97.6 | +0.2 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 96.6 | +0.0 |
| Services | 89.2 | 89.3 | +0.2 |
| Rents | 97.6 | 98.9 | +1.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 97.3
Durham-Chapel Hill 97.6
Goods
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 96.6
Durham-Chapel Hill 96.6
Services
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 89.2
Durham-Chapel Hill 89.3
Rents
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 97.6
Durham-Chapel Hill 98.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia and Durham-Chapel Hill share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.0 to 0.2 RPP points. Durham-Chapel Hill remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 9.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (10.6 to 1.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia RPP | Durham-Chapel Hill RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.3 | 97.3 | 2.0 points Durham-Chapel Hill higher |
| 2012 | 96.1 | 96.7 | 0.5 points Durham-Chapel Hill higher |
| 2016 | 96.9 | 97.5 | 0.6 points Durham-Chapel Hill higher |
| 2020 | 94.2 | 94.8 | 0.7 points Durham-Chapel Hill higher |
| 2024 | 97.3 | 97.6 | 0.2 points Durham-Chapel Hill 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 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia would need to be in Durham-Chapel Hill for the same purchasing power:
| In Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia | In Durham-Chapel Hill | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,115 | +$115 |
| $75,000 | $75,173 | +$173 |
| $100,000 | $100,230 | +$230 |
| $150,000 | $150,345 | +$345 |
$ in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia = in Durham-Chapel Hill
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.3 → 97.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Durham-Chapel Hill more expensive than Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia?
Durham-Chapel Hill is 0.2% more expensive than Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia. The overall cost index is 97.6 vs 97.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Durham-Chapel Hill equals $100K in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia?
A $100,000 salary in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia has the same purchasing power as $100,230 in Durham-Chapel Hill. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia and Durham-Chapel Hill?
Rents in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia are indexed at 97.6 while Durham-Chapel Hill is at 98.9 (national average = 100). Durham-Chapel Hill 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.