Overall
- Decatur
- 88.4
Diff -0.1 RPP
Decatur vs Pinehurst-Southern Pines
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Pinehurst-Southern Pines is 0.1% less expensive than Decatur.
0.1% less expensive
Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC is 0.1% less expensive than Decatur, IL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 88.3 vs 88.4). A $100,000 salary in Decatur buys about the same as $99,903 in Pinehurst-Southern Pines; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 88.4 (Decatur) vs 88.3 (Pinehurst-Southern Pines)
- $100k in Decatur ≈ $99,903 purchasing power in Pinehurst-Southern Pines
- Rents drives the gap (+3.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IL:NC 88.4→88.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IL × 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.
Decatur
88.4
Cost Index
Pinehurst-Southern Pines
88.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Decatur, IL and Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC 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.
Rents creates the largest separation: Pinehurst-Southern Pines is 3.1 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 Decatur corresponds to $99,903 in Pinehurst-Southern Pines.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Decatur
- 93.6
Diff +3.0 RPP
Services
- Decatur
- 91.1
Diff -2.9 RPP
Rents
- Decatur
- 56.2
Diff +3.1 RPP
| Category | Decatur | Pinehurst-Southern Pines | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 88.4 | 88.3 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 96.6 | +3.0 |
| Services | 91.1 | 88.2 | -2.9 |
| Rents | 56.2 | 59.3 | +3.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Decatur 88.4
Pinehurst-Southern Pines 88.3
Goods
Decatur 93.6
Pinehurst-Southern Pines 96.6
Services
Decatur 91.1
Pinehurst-Southern Pines 88.2
Rents
Decatur 56.2
Pinehurst-Southern Pines 59.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Decatur would need to be in Pinehurst-Southern Pines for the same purchasing power:
| In Decatur | In Pinehurst-Southern Pines | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,951 | $-49 |
| $75,000 | $74,927 | $-73 |
| $100,000 | $99,903 | $-97 |
| $150,000 | $149,854 | $-146 |
$ in Decatur = in Pinehurst-Southern Pines
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.4 → 88.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Pinehurst-Southern Pines more expensive than Decatur?
Pinehurst-Southern Pines is 0.1% less expensive than Decatur. The overall cost index is 88.3 vs 88.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Pinehurst-Southern Pines equals $100K in Decatur?
A $100,000 salary in Decatur has the same purchasing power as $99,903 in Pinehurst-Southern Pines. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Decatur and Pinehurst-Southern Pines?
Rents in Decatur are indexed at 56.2 while Pinehurst-Southern Pines is at 59.3 (national average = 100). Pinehurst-Southern Pines 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.