Overall
- Burlington
- 93.2
Diff -0.2 RPP
Lafayette-West Lafayette vs Burlington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Burlington is 0.3% less expensive than Lafayette-West Lafayette.
0.3% less expensive
Burlington, NC is 0.3% less expensive than Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.2 vs 93.4). A $100,000 salary in Lafayette-West Lafayette buys about the same as $99,750 in Burlington; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 93.4 (Lafayette-West Lafayette) vs 93.2 (Burlington)
- $100k in Lafayette-West Lafayette ≈ $99,750 purchasing power in Burlington
- Services drives the gap (+2.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IN:NC 93.4→93.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IN × 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.
Lafayette-West Lafayette
93.4
Cost Index
Burlington
93.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN and Burlington, 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: Burlington is 2.9 points higher. But services and goods and 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Lafayette-West Lafayette to $99,750 in Burlington, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Burlington
- 96.6
Diff +2.3 RPP
Services
- Burlington
- 89.2
Diff +2.9 RPP
Rents
- Burlington
- 77.9
Diff +1.4 RPP
| Category | Lafayette-West Lafayette | Burlington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.4 | 93.2 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 94.3 | 96.6 | +2.3 |
| Services | 86.4 | 89.2 | +2.9 |
| Rents | 76.4 | 77.9 | +1.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Lafayette-West Lafayette 93.4
Burlington 93.2
Goods
Lafayette-West Lafayette 94.3
Burlington 96.6
Services
Lafayette-West Lafayette 86.4
Burlington 89.2
Rents
Lafayette-West Lafayette 76.4
Burlington 77.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Lafayette-West Lafayette would need to be in Burlington for the same purchasing power:
| In Lafayette-West Lafayette | In Burlington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,875 | $-125 |
| $75,000 | $74,812 | $-188 |
| $100,000 | $99,750 | $-250 |
| $150,000 | $149,624 | $-376 |
$ in Lafayette-West Lafayette = in Burlington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (93.4 → 93.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Burlington more expensive than Lafayette-West Lafayette?
Burlington is 0.3% less expensive than Lafayette-West Lafayette. The overall cost index is 93.2 vs 93.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Burlington equals $100K in Lafayette-West Lafayette?
A $100,000 salary in Lafayette-West Lafayette has the same purchasing power as $99,750 in Burlington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Lafayette-West Lafayette and Burlington?
Rents in Lafayette-West Lafayette are indexed at 76.4 while Burlington is at 77.9 (national average = 100). Burlington 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.