Overall
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 97.6
Diff +0.3 RPP
Panama City-Panama City Beach vs Durham-Chapel Hill
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Durham-Chapel Hill is 0.3% more expensive than Panama City-Panama City Beach.
0.3% more expensive
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC is 0.3% more expensive than Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.6 vs 97.3). A $100,000 salary in Panama City-Panama City Beach buys about the same as $100,284 in Durham-Chapel Hill; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 97.3 (Panama City-Panama City Beach) vs 97.6 (Durham-Chapel Hill)
- $100k in Panama City-Panama City Beach ≈ $100,284 purchasing power in Durham-Chapel Hill
- Rents drives the gap (+2.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:NC 97.3→97.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE FL × NC
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- 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.
Panama City-Panama City Beach
97.3
Cost Index
Durham-Chapel Hill
97.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL 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.
Rents leads the difference, with Durham-Chapel Hill 2.5 points higher than Panama City-Panama City Beach. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
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 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 Panama City-Panama City Beach corresponds to $100,284 in Durham-Chapel Hill.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 96.6
Diff +0.4 RPP
Services
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 89.3
Diff +1.2 RPP
Rents
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 98.9
Diff +2.5 RPP
| Category | Panama City-Panama City Beach | Durham-Chapel Hill | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.3 | 97.6 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.6 | +0.4 |
| Services | 88.1 | 89.3 | +1.2 |
| Rents | 96.4 | 98.9 | +2.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Panama City-Panama City Beach 97.3
Durham-Chapel Hill 97.6
Goods
Panama City-Panama City Beach 96.2
Durham-Chapel Hill 96.6
Services
Panama City-Panama City Beach 88.1
Durham-Chapel Hill 89.3
Rents
Panama City-Panama City Beach 96.4
Durham-Chapel Hill 98.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Panama City-Panama City Beach would need to be in Durham-Chapel Hill for the same purchasing power:
| In Panama City-Panama City Beach | In Durham-Chapel Hill | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,142 | +$142 |
| $75,000 | $75,213 | +$213 |
| $100,000 | $100,284 | +$284 |
| $150,000 | $150,426 | +$426 |
$ in Panama City-Panama City Beach = 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 Panama City-Panama City Beach?
Durham-Chapel Hill is 0.3% more expensive than Panama City-Panama City Beach. The overall cost index is 97.6 vs 97.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Durham-Chapel Hill equals $100K in Panama City-Panama City Beach?
A $100,000 salary in Panama City-Panama City Beach has the same purchasing power as $100,284 in Durham-Chapel Hill. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Panama City-Panama City Beach and Durham-Chapel Hill?
Rents in Panama City-Panama City Beach are indexed at 96.4 while Durham-Chapel Hill is at 98.9 (national average = 100). Durham-Chapel Hill 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.