Overall
- Wilmington
- 96.4
Diff +0.5 RPP
Racine-Mount Pleasant vs Wilmington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Wilmington is 0.5% more expensive than Racine-Mount Pleasant.
0.5% more expensive
Wilmington, NC is 0.5% more expensive than Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.4 vs 96.0). A $100,000 salary in Racine-Mount Pleasant buys about the same as $100,480 in Wilmington; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 96.0 (Racine-Mount Pleasant) vs 96.4 (Wilmington)
- $100k in Racine-Mount Pleasant ≈ $100,480 purchasing power in Wilmington
- Goods drives the gap (+2.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:NC 96.0→96.4
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.
Racine-Mount Pleasant
96.0
Cost Index
Wilmington
96.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI and Wilmington, NC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Goods creates the largest separation: Wilmington 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 $100,480 in Wilmington as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Racine-Mount Pleasant, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Wilmington
- 96.6
Diff +2.8 RPP
Services
- Wilmington
- 87.9
Diff -2.1 RPP
Rents
- Wilmington
- 93.2
Diff +1.2 RPP
| Category | Racine-Mount Pleasant | Wilmington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 96.0 | 96.4 | +0.5 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 96.6 | +2.8 |
| Services | 90.0 | 87.9 | -2.1 |
| Rents | 92.0 | 93.2 | +1.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Racine-Mount Pleasant 96.0
Wilmington 96.4
Goods
Racine-Mount Pleasant 93.8
Wilmington 96.6
Services
Racine-Mount Pleasant 90.0
Wilmington 87.9
Rents
Racine-Mount Pleasant 92.0
Wilmington 93.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Racine-Mount Pleasant and Wilmington share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 3.1 to 0.5 RPP points. Wilmington remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 21.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (23.3 to 2.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Racine-Mount Pleasant RPP | Wilmington RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 96.3 | 93.2 | 3.1 points Racine-Mount Pleasant higher |
| 2012 | 94.4 | 95.2 | 0.7 points Wilmington higher |
| 2016 | 94.6 | 95.1 | 0.5 points Wilmington higher |
| 2020 | 93.9 | 94.0 | 0.2 points Wilmington higher |
| 2024 | 96.0 | 96.4 | 0.5 points Wilmington 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 Racine-Mount Pleasant would need to be in Wilmington for the same purchasing power:
| In Racine-Mount Pleasant | In Wilmington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,240 | +$240 |
| $75,000 | $75,360 | +$360 |
| $100,000 | $100,480 | +$480 |
| $150,000 | $150,721 | +$721 |
$ in Racine-Mount Pleasant = in Wilmington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (96.0 → 96.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Wilmington more expensive than Racine-Mount Pleasant?
Wilmington is 0.5% more expensive than Racine-Mount Pleasant. The overall cost index is 96.4 vs 96.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Wilmington equals $100K in Racine-Mount Pleasant?
A $100,000 salary in Racine-Mount Pleasant has the same purchasing power as $100,480 in Wilmington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Racine-Mount Pleasant and Wilmington?
Rents in Racine-Mount Pleasant are indexed at 92.0 while Wilmington is at 93.2 (national average = 100). Wilmington 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.