Overall
- Columbus
- 93.0
- Burlington
- 93.2
Diff +0.2 RPP
Columbus vs Burlington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Burlington is 0.2% more expensive than Columbus.
0.2% more expensive
Burlington, NC is 0.2% more expensive than Columbus, IN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.2 vs 93.0). A $100,000 salary in Columbus buys about the same as $100,208 in Burlington; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 93.0 (Columbus) vs 93.2 (Burlington)
- $100k in Columbus ≈ $100,208 purchasing power in Burlington
- Services drives the gap (+2.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IN:NC 93.0→93.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IN × NC
- SERVICES-LED Services-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.
Columbus
93.0
Cost Index
Burlington
93.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Columbus, IN and Burlington, 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.
Services leads the difference, with Burlington 2.7 points higher than Columbus. 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Columbus to $100,208 in Burlington, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Columbus
- 94.3
- Burlington
- 96.6
Diff +2.3 RPP
Services
- Columbus
- 86.6
- Burlington
- 89.2
Diff +2.7 RPP
Rents
- Columbus
- 75.5
- Burlington
- 77.9
Diff +2.4 RPP
| Category | Columbus | Burlington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.0 | 93.2 | +0.2 |
| Goods | 94.3 | 96.6 | +2.3 |
| Services | 86.6 | 89.2 | +2.7 |
| Rents | 75.5 | 77.9 | +2.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Columbus 93.0
Burlington 93.2
Goods
Columbus 94.3
Burlington 96.6
Services
Columbus 86.6
Burlington 89.2
Rents
Columbus 75.5
Burlington 77.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Columbus and Burlington share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 8.5 to 0.2 RPP points. Burlington remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 17.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (20.1 to 2.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Columbus RPP | Burlington RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 84.0 | 92.5 | 8.5 points Burlington higher |
| 2012 | 90.4 | 93.3 | 2.9 points Burlington higher |
| 2016 | 87.9 | 92.2 | 4.3 points Burlington higher |
| 2020 | 91.4 | 89.7 | 1.7 points Columbus higher |
| 2024 | 93.0 | 93.2 | 0.2 points Burlington 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 Columbus would need to be in Burlington for the same purchasing power:
| In Columbus | In Burlington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,104 | +$104 |
| $75,000 | $75,156 | +$156 |
| $100,000 | $100,208 | +$208 |
| $150,000 | $150,311 | +$311 |
$ in Columbus = in Burlington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (93.0 → 93.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Burlington more expensive than Columbus?
Burlington is 0.2% more expensive than Columbus. The overall cost index is 93.2 vs 93.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Burlington equals $100K in Columbus?
A $100,000 salary in Columbus has the same purchasing power as $100,208 in Burlington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Columbus and Burlington?
Rents in Columbus are indexed at 75.5 while Burlington is at 77.9 (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.