Overall
- Wilmington
- 96.4
Diff +0.1 RPP
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin vs Wilmington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Wilmington is 0.1% more expensive than Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin.
0.1% more expensive
Wilmington, NC is 0.1% more expensive than Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.4 vs 96.3). A $100,000 salary in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin buys about the same as $100,087 in Wilmington; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 96.3 (Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin) vs 96.4 (Wilmington)
- $100k in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin ≈ $100,087 purchasing power in Wilmington
- Services drives the gap (+16.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TN:NC 96.3→96.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TN × 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.
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin
96.3
Cost Index
Wilmington
96.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN and Wilmington, NC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Wilmington is 16.0 points higher. But 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 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin to $100,087 in Wilmington, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Wilmington
- 96.6
Diff +0.4 RPP
Services
- Wilmington
- 87.9
Diff +16.0 RPP
Rents
- Wilmington
- 93.2
Diff -11.4 RPP
| Category | Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin | Wilmington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 96.3 | 96.4 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.6 | +0.4 |
| Services | 72.0 | 87.9 | +16.0 |
| Rents | 104.6 | 93.2 | -11.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin 96.3
Wilmington 96.4
Goods
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin 96.2
Wilmington 96.6
Services
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin 72.0
Wilmington 87.9
Rents
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin 104.6
Wilmington 93.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin would need to be in Wilmington for the same purchasing power:
| In Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin | In Wilmington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,044 | +$44 |
| $75,000 | $75,065 | +$65 |
| $100,000 | $100,087 | +$87 |
| $150,000 | $150,131 | +$131 |
$ in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin = in Wilmington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (96.3 → 96.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Reverse: Wilmington → Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin Details
Wilmington Details
Also Compare
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Wilmington more expensive than Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin?
Wilmington is 0.1% more expensive than Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin. The overall cost index is 96.4 vs 96.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Wilmington equals $100K in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin?
A $100,000 salary in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin has the same purchasing power as $100,087 in Wilmington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin and Wilmington?
Rents in Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin are indexed at 104.6 while Wilmington is at 93.2 (national average = 100). Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin 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.