Overall
- Rocky Mount
- 88.0
Diff -0.3 RPP
Pinehurst-Southern Pines vs Rocky Mount
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Rocky Mount is 0.4% less expensive than Pinehurst-Southern Pines.
0.4% less expensive
Rocky Mount, NC is 0.4% less expensive than Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 88.0 vs 88.3). A $100,000 salary in Pinehurst-Southern Pines buys about the same as $99,633 in Rocky Mount; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 88.3 (Pinehurst-Southern Pines) vs 88.0 (Rocky Mount)
- $100k in Pinehurst-Southern Pines ≈ $99,633 purchasing power in Rocky Mount
- Rents drives the gap (-3.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:NC 88.3→88.0
PHOTO-FINISH · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- SAME-STATE Same state · 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.
Pinehurst-Southern Pines
88.3
Cost Index
Rocky Mount
88.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC and Rocky Mount, 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 creates the largest separation: Rocky Mount is 3.2 points lower. But services 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 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 Pinehurst-Southern Pines corresponds to $99,633 in Rocky Mount.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Rocky Mount
- 96.6
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
- Rocky Mount
- 88.4
Diff +0.2 RPP
Rents
- Rocky Mount
- 56.1
Diff -3.2 RPP
| Category | Pinehurst-Southern Pines | Rocky Mount | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 88.3 | 88.0 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 96.6 | 0.0 |
| Services | 88.2 | 88.4 | +0.2 |
| Rents | 59.3 | 56.1 | -3.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Pinehurst-Southern Pines 88.3
Rocky Mount 88.0
Goods
Pinehurst-Southern Pines 96.6
Rocky Mount 96.6
Services
Pinehurst-Southern Pines 88.2
Rocky Mount 88.4
Rents
Pinehurst-Southern Pines 59.3
Rocky Mount 56.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Pinehurst-Southern Pines and Rocky Mount share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.3 to 0.3 RPP points. Pinehurst-Southern Pines remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 7.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (7.5 to 0.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Pinehurst-Southern Pines RPP | Rocky Mount RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 86.3 | 88.7 | 2.3 points Rocky Mount higher |
| 2012 | 86.9 | 89.1 | 2.2 points Rocky Mount higher |
| 2016 | 88.4 | 87.8 | 0.6 points Pinehurst-Southern Pines higher |
| 2020 | 88.9 | 83.8 | 5.1 points Pinehurst-Southern Pines higher |
| 2024 | 88.3 | 88.0 | 0.3 points Pinehurst-Southern Pines 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Pinehurst-Southern Pines would need to be in Rocky Mount for the same purchasing power:
| In Pinehurst-Southern Pines | In Rocky Mount | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,817 | $-183 |
| $75,000 | $74,725 | $-275 |
| $100,000 | $99,633 | $-367 |
| $150,000 | $149,450 | $-550 |
$ in Pinehurst-Southern Pines = in Rocky Mount
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.3 → 88.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Rocky Mount more expensive than Pinehurst-Southern Pines?
Rocky Mount is 0.4% less expensive than Pinehurst-Southern Pines. The overall cost index is 88.0 vs 88.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Rocky Mount equals $100K in Pinehurst-Southern Pines?
A $100,000 salary in Pinehurst-Southern Pines has the same purchasing power as $99,633 in Rocky Mount. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Pinehurst-Southern Pines and Rocky Mount?
Rents in Pinehurst-Southern Pines are indexed at 59.3 while Rocky Mount is at 56.1 (national average = 100). Pinehurst-Southern Pines 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.