Overall
- Wilmington
- 96.4
Diff +0.9 RPP
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood vs Wilmington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Wilmington is 0.9% more expensive than Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood.
0.9% more expensive
Wilmington, NC is 0.9% more expensive than Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.4 vs 95.5). A $100,000 salary in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood buys about the same as $100,917 in Wilmington; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 95.5 (Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood) vs 96.4 (Wilmington)
- $100k in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood ≈ $100,917 purchasing power in Wilmington
- Rents drives the gap (+6.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MI:NC 95.5→96.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MI × 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.
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood
95.5
Cost Index
Wilmington
96.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI and Wilmington, NC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.9 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Wilmington is 6.6 points higher. But services 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 Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood corresponds to $100,917 in Wilmington.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Wilmington
- 96.6
Diff +2.9 RPP
Services
- Wilmington
- 87.9
Diff -5.9 RPP
Rents
- Wilmington
- 93.2
Diff +6.6 RPP
| Category | Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood | Wilmington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 95.5 | 96.4 | +0.9 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 96.6 | +2.9 |
| Services | 93.8 | 87.9 | -5.9 |
| Rents | 86.6 | 93.2 | +6.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 95.5
Wilmington 96.4
Goods
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 93.7
Wilmington 96.6
Services
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 93.8
Wilmington 87.9
Rents
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 86.6
Wilmington 93.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood and Wilmington share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.4 to 0.9 RPP points. Wilmington remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 10.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (4.3 to 6.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood RPP | Wilmington RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.6 | 93.2 | 2.4 points Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood higher |
| 2012 | 94.7 | 95.2 | 0.5 points Wilmington higher |
| 2016 | 94.2 | 95.1 | 0.9 points Wilmington higher |
| 2020 | 94.3 | 94.0 | 0.2 points Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood higher |
| 2024 | 95.5 | 96.4 | 0.9 points Wilmington 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 Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood would need to be in Wilmington for the same purchasing power:
| In Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood | In Wilmington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,458 | +$458 |
| $75,000 | $75,688 | +$688 |
| $100,000 | $100,917 | +$917 |
| $150,000 | $151,375 | +$1,375 |
$ in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood = in Wilmington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (95.5 → 96.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Wilmington more expensive than Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood?
Wilmington is 0.9% more expensive than Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood. The overall cost index is 96.4 vs 95.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Wilmington equals $100K in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood?
A $100,000 salary in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood has the same purchasing power as $100,917 in Wilmington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood and Wilmington?
Rents in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood are indexed at 86.6 while Wilmington is at 93.2 (national average = 100). Wilmington 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.