Overall
- Madison
- 97.3
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 97.6
Diff +0.3 RPP
Madison vs Durham-Chapel Hill
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Durham-Chapel Hill is 0.3% more expensive than Madison.
0.3% more expensive
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC is 0.3% more expensive than Madison, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.6 vs 97.3). A $100,000 salary in Madison buys about the same as $100,293 in Durham-Chapel Hill; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 97.3 (Madison) vs 97.6 (Durham-Chapel Hill)
- $100k in Madison ≈ $100,293 purchasing power in Durham-Chapel Hill
- Goods drives the gap (+2.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:NC 97.3→97.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WI × 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.
Madison
97.3
Cost Index
Durham-Chapel Hill
97.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Madison, WI and Durham-Chapel Hill, NC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Goods creates the largest separation: Durham-Chapel Hill is 2.8 points higher. But rents and 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 goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $100,293 in Durham-Chapel Hill as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Madison, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Madison
- 93.8
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 96.6
Diff +2.8 RPP
Services
- Madison
- 89.8
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 89.3
Diff -0.5 RPP
Rents
- Madison
- 99.7
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 98.9
Diff -0.8 RPP
| Category | Madison | Durham-Chapel Hill | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.3 | 97.6 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 96.6 | +2.8 |
| Services | 89.8 | 89.3 | -0.5 |
| Rents | 99.7 | 98.9 | -0.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Madison 97.3
Durham-Chapel Hill 97.6
Goods
Madison 93.8
Durham-Chapel Hill 96.6
Services
Madison 89.8
Durham-Chapel Hill 89.3
Rents
Madison 99.7
Durham-Chapel Hill 98.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Madison would need to be in Durham-Chapel Hill for the same purchasing power:
| In Madison | In Durham-Chapel Hill | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,146 | +$146 |
| $75,000 | $75,220 | +$220 |
| $100,000 | $100,293 | +$293 |
| $150,000 | $150,439 | +$439 |
$ in Madison = in Durham-Chapel Hill
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.3 → 97.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Durham-Chapel Hill more expensive than Madison?
Durham-Chapel Hill is 0.3% more expensive than Madison. The overall cost index is 97.6 vs 97.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Durham-Chapel Hill equals $100K in Madison?
A $100,000 salary in Madison has the same purchasing power as $100,293 in Durham-Chapel Hill. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Madison and Durham-Chapel Hill?
Rents in Madison are indexed at 99.7 while Durham-Chapel Hill is at 98.9 (national average = 100). Madison 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.