Overall
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 97.6
- Longview-Kelso
- 97.5
Diff -0.0 RPP
Durham-Chapel Hill vs Longview-Kelso
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Longview-Kelso is 0% less expensive than Durham-Chapel Hill.
0% less expensive
Longview-Kelso, WA is 0% less expensive than Durham-Chapel Hill, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.5 vs 97.6). A $100,000 salary in Durham-Chapel Hill buys about the same as $99,972 in Longview-Kelso; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 97.6 (Durham-Chapel Hill) vs 97.5 (Longview-Kelso)
- $100k in Durham-Chapel Hill ≈ $99,972 purchasing power in Longview-Kelso
- Rents drives the gap (-16.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:WA 97.6→97.5
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NC × WA
- 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
Longview-Kelso
97.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC and Longview-Kelso, WA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.0 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Longview-Kelso is 16.4 points lower. 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 $99,972 in Longview-Kelso.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 96.6
- Longview-Kelso
- 105.0
Diff +8.4 RPP
Services
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 89.3
- Longview-Kelso
- 98.5
Diff +9.1 RPP
Rents
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 98.9
- Longview-Kelso
- 82.5
Diff -16.4 RPP
| Category | Durham-Chapel Hill | Longview-Kelso | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.6 | 97.5 | -0.0 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 105.0 | +8.4 |
| Services | 89.3 | 98.5 | +9.1 |
| Rents | 98.9 | 82.5 | -16.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Durham-Chapel Hill 97.6
Longview-Kelso 97.5
Goods
Durham-Chapel Hill 96.6
Longview-Kelso 105.0
Services
Durham-Chapel Hill 89.3
Longview-Kelso 98.5
Rents
Durham-Chapel Hill 98.9
Longview-Kelso 82.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Durham-Chapel Hill and Longview-Kelso share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.8 to 0.0 RPP points. Durham-Chapel Hill remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 31.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (22.7 to 9.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Durham-Chapel Hill RPP | Longview-Kelso RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.3 | 98.1 | 0.8 points Longview-Kelso higher |
| 2012 | 96.7 | 92.5 | 4.2 points Durham-Chapel Hill higher |
| 2016 | 97.5 | 96.8 | 0.7 points Durham-Chapel Hill higher |
| 2020 | 94.8 | 100.0 | 5.2 points Longview-Kelso higher |
| 2024 | 97.6 | 97.5 | 0.0 points Durham-Chapel Hill 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 Longview-Kelso for the same purchasing power:
| In Durham-Chapel Hill | In Longview-Kelso | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,986 | $-14 |
| $75,000 | $74,979 | $-21 |
| $100,000 | $99,972 | $-28 |
| $150,000 | $149,958 | $-42 |
$ in Durham-Chapel Hill = in Longview-Kelso
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.6 → 97.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Longview-Kelso more expensive than Durham-Chapel Hill?
Longview-Kelso is 0% less expensive than Durham-Chapel Hill. The overall cost index is 97.5 vs 97.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Longview-Kelso equals $100K in Durham-Chapel Hill?
A $100,000 salary in Durham-Chapel Hill has the same purchasing power as $99,972 in Longview-Kelso. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Durham-Chapel Hill and Longview-Kelso?
Rents in Durham-Chapel Hill are indexed at 98.9 while Longview-Kelso is at 82.5 (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.