Overall
Diff -0.2 RPP
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton vs Pinehurst-Southern Pines
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Pinehurst-Southern Pines is 0.2% less expensive than Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton.
0.2% less expensive
Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC is 0.2% less expensive than Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 88.3 vs 88.5). A $100,000 salary in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton buys about the same as $99,830 in Pinehurst-Southern Pines; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 88.5 (Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton) vs 88.3 (Pinehurst-Southern Pines)
- $100k in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton ≈ $99,830 purchasing power in Pinehurst-Southern Pines
- Services drives the gap (+0.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:NC 88.5→88.3
PHOTO-FINISH · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- SAME-STATE Same state · 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.
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton
88.5
Cost Index
Pinehurst-Southern Pines
88.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC and Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC 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.
Services creates the largest separation: Pinehurst-Southern Pines is 0.4 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton to $99,830 in Pinehurst-Southern Pines, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
Diff +0.4 RPP
Rents
Diff -0.3 RPP
| Category | Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton | Pinehurst-Southern Pines | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 88.5 | 88.3 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 96.6 | 0.0 |
| Services | 87.8 | 88.2 | +0.4 |
| Rents | 59.6 | 59.3 | -0.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 88.5
Pinehurst-Southern Pines 88.3
Goods
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 96.6
Pinehurst-Southern Pines 96.6
Services
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 87.8
Pinehurst-Southern Pines 88.2
Rents
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 59.6
Pinehurst-Southern Pines 59.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton would need to be in Pinehurst-Southern Pines for the same purchasing power:
| In Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton | In Pinehurst-Southern Pines | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,915 | $-85 |
| $75,000 | $74,873 | $-127 |
| $100,000 | $99,830 | $-170 |
| $150,000 | $149,746 | $-254 |
$ in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton = in Pinehurst-Southern Pines
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.5 → 88.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Pinehurst-Southern Pines more expensive than Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton?
Pinehurst-Southern Pines is 0.2% less expensive than Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton. The overall cost index is 88.3 vs 88.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Pinehurst-Southern Pines equals $100K in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton?
A $100,000 salary in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton has the same purchasing power as $99,830 in Pinehurst-Southern Pines. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton and Pinehurst-Southern Pines?
Rents in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton are indexed at 59.6 while Pinehurst-Southern Pines is at 59.3 (national average = 100). Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 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.