Overall
- Mansfield
- 88.9
Diff -0.4 RPP
Mansfield vs Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton is 0.4% less expensive than Mansfield.
0.4% less expensive
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC is 0.4% less expensive than Mansfield, OH on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 88.5 vs 88.9). A $100,000 salary in Mansfield buys about the same as $99,566 in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 88.9 (Mansfield) vs 88.5 (Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton)
- $100k in Mansfield ≈ $99,566 purchasing power in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton
- Services drives the gap (-8.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair OH:NC 88.9→88.5
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE OH × 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.
Mansfield
88.9
Cost Index
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton
88.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Mansfield, OH and Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton is 8.4 points lower. But rents 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 Mansfield to $99,566 in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Mansfield
- 93.6
Diff +3.0 RPP
Services
- Mansfield
- 96.2
Diff -8.4 RPP
Rents
- Mansfield
- 54.9
Diff +4.7 RPP
| Category | Mansfield | Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 88.9 | 88.5 | -0.4 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 96.6 | +3.0 |
| Services | 96.2 | 87.8 | -8.4 |
| Rents | 54.9 | 59.6 | +4.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Mansfield 88.9
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 88.5
Goods
Mansfield 93.6
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 96.6
Services
Mansfield 96.2
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 87.8
Rents
Mansfield 54.9
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton 59.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Mansfield would need to be in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton for the same purchasing power:
| In Mansfield | In Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,783 | $-217 |
| $75,000 | $74,674 | $-326 |
| $100,000 | $99,566 | $-434 |
| $150,000 | $149,349 | $-651 |
$ in Mansfield = in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.9 → 88.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton more expensive than Mansfield?
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton is 0.4% less expensive than Mansfield. The overall cost index is 88.5 vs 88.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton equals $100K in Mansfield?
A $100,000 salary in Mansfield has the same purchasing power as $99,566 in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Mansfield and Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton?
Rents in Mansfield are indexed at 54.9 while Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton is at 59.6 (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.