Overall
- Raleigh-Cary
- 98.2
Diff -0.1 RPP
Raleigh-Cary vs Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal is 0.1% less expensive than Raleigh-Cary.
0.1% less expensive
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC is 0.1% less expensive than Raleigh-Cary, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.0 vs 98.2). A $100,000 salary in Raleigh-Cary buys about the same as $99,857 in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.2 (Raleigh-Cary) vs 98.0 (Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal)
- $100k in Raleigh-Cary ≈ $99,857 purchasing power in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal
- Rents drives the gap (-2.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:SC 98.2→98.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NC × SC
- 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.
Raleigh-Cary
98.2
Cost Index
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal
98.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Raleigh-Cary, NC and Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC 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.
Rents leads the difference, with Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 2.2 points lower than Raleigh-Cary. 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 Raleigh-Cary corresponds to $99,857 in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Raleigh-Cary
- 96.6
Diff -0.3 RPP
Services
- Raleigh-Cary
- 89.0
Diff -0.9 RPP
Rents
- Raleigh-Cary
- 103.5
Diff -2.2 RPP
| Category | Raleigh-Cary | Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.2 | 98.0 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 96.3 | -0.3 |
| Services | 89.0 | 88.1 | -0.9 |
| Rents | 103.5 | 101.2 | -2.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Raleigh-Cary 98.2
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 98.0
Goods
Raleigh-Cary 96.6
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 96.3
Services
Raleigh-Cary 89.0
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 88.1
Rents
Raleigh-Cary 103.5
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 101.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Raleigh-Cary and Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 1.9 to 0.1 RPP points. Raleigh-Cary remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 9.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (6.8 to 2.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Raleigh-Cary RPP | Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.0 | 95.1 | 1.9 points Raleigh-Cary higher |
| 2012 | 98.0 | 93.6 | 4.5 points Raleigh-Cary higher |
| 2016 | 99.3 | 96.0 | 3.3 points Raleigh-Cary higher |
| 2020 | 95.4 | 93.6 | 1.8 points Raleigh-Cary higher |
| 2024 | 98.2 | 98.0 | 0.1 points Raleigh-Cary 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 Raleigh-Cary would need to be in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal for the same purchasing power:
| In Raleigh-Cary | In Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,929 | $-71 |
| $75,000 | $74,893 | $-107 |
| $100,000 | $99,857 | $-143 |
| $150,000 | $149,786 | $-214 |
$ in Raleigh-Cary = in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.2 → 98.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal more expensive than Raleigh-Cary?
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal is 0.1% less expensive than Raleigh-Cary. The overall cost index is 98.0 vs 98.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal equals $100K in Raleigh-Cary?
A $100,000 salary in Raleigh-Cary has the same purchasing power as $99,857 in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Raleigh-Cary and Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal?
Rents in Raleigh-Cary are indexed at 103.5 while Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal is at 101.2 (national average = 100). Raleigh-Cary 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.