Overall
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 97.6
- Grants Pass
- 97.8
Diff +0.2 RPP
Durham-Chapel Hill vs Grants Pass
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Grants Pass is 0.2% more expensive than Durham-Chapel Hill.
0.2% more expensive
Grants Pass, OR is 0.2% more expensive than Durham-Chapel Hill, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.8 vs 97.6). A $100,000 salary in Durham-Chapel Hill buys about the same as $100,193 in Grants Pass; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 97.6 (Durham-Chapel Hill) vs 97.8 (Grants Pass)
- $100k in Durham-Chapel Hill ≈ $100,193 purchasing power in Grants Pass
- Rents drives the gap (-19.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:OR 97.6→97.8
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NC × OR
- 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
Grants Pass
97.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC and Grants Pass, OR 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 creates the largest separation: Grants Pass is 19.0 points lower. But rents 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 $100,193 in Grants Pass.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 96.6
- Grants Pass
- 105.3
Diff +8.6 RPP
Services
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 89.3
- Grants Pass
- 103.6
Diff +14.2 RPP
Rents
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 98.9
- Grants Pass
- 79.9
Diff -19.0 RPP
| Category | Durham-Chapel Hill | Grants Pass | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.6 | 97.8 | +0.2 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 105.3 | +8.6 |
| Services | 89.3 | 103.6 | +14.2 |
| Rents | 98.9 | 79.9 | -19.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Durham-Chapel Hill 97.6
Grants Pass 97.8
Goods
Durham-Chapel Hill 96.6
Grants Pass 105.3
Services
Durham-Chapel Hill 89.3
Grants Pass 103.6
Rents
Durham-Chapel Hill 98.9
Grants Pass 79.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Durham-Chapel Hill and Grants Pass share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 1.2 to 0.2 RPP points. Grants Pass remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 30.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (15.7 to 14.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Durham-Chapel Hill RPP | Grants Pass RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.3 | 96.2 | 1.2 points Durham-Chapel Hill higher |
| 2012 | 96.7 | 96.1 | 0.6 points Durham-Chapel Hill higher |
| 2016 | 97.5 | 96.2 | 1.3 points Durham-Chapel Hill higher |
| 2020 | 94.8 | 95.0 | 0.1 points Grants Pass higher |
| 2024 | 97.6 | 97.8 | 0.2 points Grants Pass 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 Durham-Chapel Hill would need to be in Grants Pass for the same purchasing power:
| In Durham-Chapel Hill | In Grants Pass | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,096 | +$96 |
| $75,000 | $75,145 | +$145 |
| $100,000 | $100,193 | +$193 |
| $150,000 | $150,289 | +$289 |
$ in Durham-Chapel Hill = in Grants Pass
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.6 → 97.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Grants Pass more expensive than Durham-Chapel Hill?
Grants Pass is 0.2% more expensive than Durham-Chapel Hill. The overall cost index is 97.8 vs 97.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Grants Pass equals $100K in Durham-Chapel Hill?
A $100,000 salary in Durham-Chapel Hill has the same purchasing power as $100,193 in Grants Pass. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Durham-Chapel Hill and Grants Pass?
Rents in Durham-Chapel Hill are indexed at 98.9 while Grants Pass is at 79.9 (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.