Overall
- Madison
- 97.3
Diff -0.1 RPP
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia vs Madison
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Madison is 0.1% less expensive than Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia.
0.1% less expensive
Madison, WI is 0.1% less expensive than Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.3 vs 97.3). A $100,000 salary in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia buys about the same as $99,937 in Madison; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 97.3 (Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia) vs 97.3 (Madison)
- $100k in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia ≈ $99,937 purchasing power in Madison
- Goods drives the gap (-2.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:WI 97.3→97.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NC × WI
- 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.
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
97.3
Cost Index
Madison
97.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC and Madison, WI 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.
Goods creates the largest separation: Madison is 2.8 points lower. But rents and services 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 goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $99,937 in Madison as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Madison
- 93.8
Diff -2.8 RPP
Services
- Madison
- 89.8
Diff +0.7 RPP
Rents
- Madison
- 99.7
Diff +2.1 RPP
| Category | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia | Madison | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.3 | 97.3 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 93.8 | -2.8 |
| Services | 89.2 | 89.8 | +0.7 |
| Rents | 97.6 | 99.7 | +2.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 97.3
Madison 97.3
Goods
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 96.6
Madison 93.8
Services
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 89.2
Madison 89.8
Rents
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 97.6
Madison 99.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia would need to be in Madison for the same purchasing power:
| In Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia | In Madison | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,969 | $-31 |
| $75,000 | $74,953 | $-47 |
| $100,000 | $99,937 | $-63 |
| $150,000 | $149,906 | $-94 |
$ in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia = in Madison
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.3 → 97.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Madison more expensive than Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia?
Madison is 0.1% less expensive than Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia. The overall cost index is 97.3 vs 97.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Madison equals $100K in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia?
A $100,000 salary in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia has the same purchasing power as $99,937 in Madison. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia and Madison?
Rents in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia are indexed at 97.6 while Madison is at 99.7 (national average = 100). Madison 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.