Overall
- Raleigh-Cary
- 98.2
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 103.7
Diff +5.5 RPP
Raleigh-Cary vs Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 5.6% more expensive than Raleigh-Cary.
5.6% more expensive
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA is 5.6% more expensive than Raleigh-Cary, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.7 vs 98.2). A $100,000 salary in Raleigh-Cary buys about the same as $105,617 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.2 (Raleigh-Cary) vs 103.7 (Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater)
- $100k in Raleigh-Cary ≈ $105,617 purchasing power in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- Rents drives the gap (+13.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:WA 98.2→103.7
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NC × WA
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Raleigh-Cary would need to be in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater for the same purchasing power:
| In Raleigh-Cary | In Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,808 | +$2,808 |
| $75,000 | $79,212 | +$4,212 |
| $100,000 | $105,617 | +$5,617 |
| $150,000 | $158,425 | +$8,425 |
$ in Raleigh-Cary = in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.2 → 103.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA is 5.6% more expensive than Raleigh-Cary, NC, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.5-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is above 100 while Raleigh-Cary is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 13.2 points higher 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.
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 $105,617 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Raleigh-Cary
- 96.6
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 105.0
Diff +8.4 RPP
Services
- Raleigh-Cary
- 89.0
Diff +2.7 RPP
Rents
- Raleigh-Cary
- 103.5
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 116.7
Diff +13.2 RPP
| Category | Raleigh-Cary | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.2 | 103.7 | +5.5 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 105.0 | +8.4 |
| Services | 89.0 | 91.7 | +2.7 |
| Rents | 103.5 | 116.7 | +13.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Raleigh-Cary 98.2
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 103.7
Goods
Raleigh-Cary 96.6
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 105.0
Services
Raleigh-Cary 89.0
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 91.7
Rents
Raleigh-Cary 103.5
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 116.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Raleigh-Cary
98.2
Cost Index
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
103.7
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Raleigh-Cary and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 8.4 to 5.5 RPP points. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 9.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (6.7 to 2.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Raleigh-Cary RPP | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.0 | 105.4 | 8.4 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2012 | 98.0 | 101.3 | 3.3 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2016 | 99.3 | 106.0 | 6.8 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2020 | 95.4 | 101.9 | 6.5 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2024 | 98.2 | 103.7 | 5.5 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater more expensive than Raleigh-Cary?
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 5.6% more expensive than Raleigh-Cary. The overall cost index is 103.7 vs 98.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater equals $100K in Raleigh-Cary?
A $100,000 salary in Raleigh-Cary has the same purchasing power as $105,617 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Raleigh-Cary and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater?
Rents in Raleigh-Cary are indexed at 103.5 while Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is at 116.7 (national average = 100). Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 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.