Overall
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 97.6
Diff +0.5 RPP
Durham-Chapel Hill vs Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos is 0.5% more expensive than Durham-Chapel Hill.
0.5% more expensive
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX is 0.5% more expensive than Durham-Chapel Hill, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.1 vs 97.6). A $100,000 salary in Durham-Chapel Hill buys about the same as $100,506 in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 97.6 (Durham-Chapel Hill) vs 98.1 (Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos)
- $100k in Durham-Chapel Hill ≈ $100,506 purchasing power in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos
- Rents drives the gap (+21.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:TX 97.6→98.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NC × TX
- 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.
Durham-Chapel Hill
97.6
Cost Index
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos
98.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC and Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos is 21.4 points higher. But services 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 Durham-Chapel Hill corresponds to $100,506 in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 96.6
Diff -2.9 RPP
Services
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 89.3
Diff -7.3 RPP
Rents
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 98.9
Diff +21.4 RPP
| Category | Durham-Chapel Hill | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.6 | 98.1 | +0.5 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 93.8 | -2.9 |
| Services | 89.3 | 82.0 | -7.3 |
| Rents | 98.9 | 120.4 | +21.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Durham-Chapel Hill 97.6
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos 98.1
Goods
Durham-Chapel Hill 96.6
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos 93.8
Services
Durham-Chapel Hill 89.3
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos 82.0
Rents
Durham-Chapel Hill 98.9
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos 120.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Durham-Chapel Hill would need to be in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos for the same purchasing power:
| In Durham-Chapel Hill | In Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,253 | +$253 |
| $75,000 | $75,380 | +$380 |
| $100,000 | $100,506 | +$506 |
| $150,000 | $150,759 | +$759 |
$ in Durham-Chapel Hill = in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.6 → 98.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos more expensive than Durham-Chapel Hill?
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos is 0.5% more expensive than Durham-Chapel Hill. The overall cost index is 98.1 vs 97.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos equals $100K in Durham-Chapel Hill?
A $100,000 salary in Durham-Chapel Hill has the same purchasing power as $100,506 in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Durham-Chapel Hill and Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos?
Rents in Durham-Chapel Hill are indexed at 98.9 while Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos is at 120.4 (national average = 100). Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos 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.