Overall
- Naples-Marco Island
- 103.2
- Wilmington
- 96.4
Diff -6.8 RPP
Naples-Marco Island vs Wilmington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Wilmington is 6.6% less expensive than Naples-Marco Island.
6.6% less expensive
Wilmington, NC is 6.6% less expensive than Naples-Marco Island, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.4 vs 103.2). A $100,000 salary in Naples-Marco Island buys about the same as $93,432 in Wilmington; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.2 (Naples-Marco Island) vs 96.4 (Wilmington)
- $100k in Naples-Marco Island ≈ $93,432 purchasing power in Wilmington
- Rents drives the gap (-36.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:NC 103.2→96.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE FL × NC
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Naples-Marco Island
- 96.2
- Wilmington
- 96.6
Diff +0.4 RPP
Services
- Naples-Marco Island
- 87.8
- Wilmington
- 87.9
Diff +0.1 RPP
Rents
- Naples-Marco Island
- 129.4
- Wilmington
- 93.2
Diff -36.2 RPP
| Category | Naples-Marco Island | Wilmington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.2 | 96.4 | -6.8 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.6 | +0.4 |
| Services | 87.8 | 87.9 | +0.1 |
| Rents | 129.4 | 93.2 | -36.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Naples-Marco Island 103.2
Wilmington 96.4
Goods
Naples-Marco Island 96.2
Wilmington 96.6
Services
Naples-Marco Island 87.8
Wilmington 87.9
Rents
Naples-Marco Island 129.4
Wilmington 93.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Wilmington is 36.2 points lower. But goods and services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Wilmington, NC is 6.6% less expensive than Naples-Marco Island, FL, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.8-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Naples-Marco Island is above 100 while Wilmington is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Naples-Marco Island corresponds to $93,432 in Wilmington.
Naples-Marco Island
103.2
Cost Index
Wilmington
96.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Naples-Marco Island would need to be in Wilmington for the same purchasing power:
| In Naples-Marco Island | In Wilmington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,716 | $-3,284 |
| $75,000 | $70,074 | $-4,926 |
| $100,000 | $93,432 | $-6,568 |
| $150,000 | $140,148 | $-9,852 |
$ in Naples-Marco Island = in Wilmington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.2 → 96.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Naples-Marco Island and Wilmington share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 11.1 to 6.8 RPP points. Naples-Marco Island remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 13.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (50.1 to 36.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Naples-Marco Island RPP | Wilmington RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 104.3 | 93.2 | 11.1 points Naples-Marco Island higher |
| 2012 | 101.6 | 95.2 | 6.4 points Naples-Marco Island higher |
| 2016 | 103.8 | 95.1 | 8.7 points Naples-Marco Island higher |
| 2020 | 99.1 | 94.0 | 5.1 points Naples-Marco Island higher |
| 2024 | 103.2 | 96.4 | 6.8 points Naples-Marco Island higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Wilmington more expensive than Naples-Marco Island?
Wilmington is 6.6% less expensive than Naples-Marco Island. The overall cost index is 96.4 vs 103.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Wilmington equals $100K in Naples-Marco Island?
A $100,000 salary in Naples-Marco Island has the same purchasing power as $93,432 in Wilmington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Naples-Marco Island and Wilmington?
Rents in Naples-Marco Island are indexed at 129.4 while Wilmington is at 93.2 (national average = 100). Naples-Marco Island 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.