Overall
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 96.9
Diff +0.4 RPP
Milwaukee-Waukesha vs Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia is 0.4% more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha.
0.4% more expensive
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC is 0.4% more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.3 vs 96.9). A $100,000 salary in Milwaukee-Waukesha buys about the same as $100,424 in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 96.9 (Milwaukee-Waukesha) vs 97.3 (Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia)
- $100k in Milwaukee-Waukesha ≈ $100,424 purchasing power in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
- Goods drives the gap (+2.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:NC 96.9→97.3
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.
Milwaukee-Waukesha
96.9
Cost Index
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
97.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI and Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC 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.
Goods creates the largest separation: Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia is 2.8 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 goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $100,424 in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Milwaukee-Waukesha, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 93.8
Diff +2.8 RPP
Services
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 91.6
Diff -2.4 RPP
Rents
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 97.1
Diff +0.5 RPP
| Category | Milwaukee-Waukesha | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 96.9 | 97.3 | +0.4 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 96.6 | +2.8 |
| Services | 91.6 | 89.2 | -2.4 |
| Rents | 97.1 | 97.6 | +0.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Milwaukee-Waukesha 96.9
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 97.3
Goods
Milwaukee-Waukesha 93.8
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 96.6
Services
Milwaukee-Waukesha 91.6
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 89.2
Rents
Milwaukee-Waukesha 97.1
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 97.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Milwaukee-Waukesha would need to be in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia for the same purchasing power:
| In Milwaukee-Waukesha | In Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,212 | +$212 |
| $75,000 | $75,318 | +$318 |
| $100,000 | $100,424 | +$424 |
| $150,000 | $150,636 | +$636 |
$ in Milwaukee-Waukesha = in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (96.9 → 97.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha?
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia is 0.4% more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha. The overall cost index is 97.3 vs 96.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia equals $100K in Milwaukee-Waukesha?
A $100,000 salary in Milwaukee-Waukesha has the same purchasing power as $100,424 in Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Milwaukee-Waukesha and Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia?
Rents in Milwaukee-Waukesha are indexed at 97.1 while Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia is at 97.6 (national average = 100). Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 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.