Overall
- Raleigh-Cary
- 98.2
Diff -0.4 RPP
Raleigh-Cary vs Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent is 0.4% less expensive than Raleigh-Cary.
0.4% less expensive
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL is 0.4% less expensive than Raleigh-Cary, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.7 vs 98.2). A $100,000 salary in Raleigh-Cary buys about the same as $99,552 in Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.2 (Raleigh-Cary) vs 97.7 (Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent)
- $100k in Raleigh-Cary ≈ $99,552 purchasing power in Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent
- Rents drives the gap (-4.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:FL 98.2→97.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NC × FL
- 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
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent
97.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Raleigh-Cary, NC and Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents leads the difference, with Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent 4.7 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 $99,552 in Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Raleigh-Cary
- 96.6
Diff -0.4 RPP
Services
- Raleigh-Cary
- 89.0
Diff -0.5 RPP
Rents
- Raleigh-Cary
- 103.5
Diff -4.7 RPP
| Category | Raleigh-Cary | Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.2 | 97.7 | -0.4 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 96.2 | -0.4 |
| Services | 89.0 | 88.5 | -0.5 |
| Rents | 103.5 | 98.8 | -4.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Raleigh-Cary 98.2
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent 97.7
Goods
Raleigh-Cary 96.6
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent 96.2
Services
Raleigh-Cary 89.0
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent 88.5
Rents
Raleigh-Cary 103.5
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent 98.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Raleigh-Cary and Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.6 to 0.4 RPP points. Raleigh-Cary remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 11.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (10.7 to 0.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Raleigh-Cary RPP | Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.0 | 96.4 | 0.6 points Raleigh-Cary higher |
| 2012 | 98.0 | 97.3 | 0.7 points Raleigh-Cary higher |
| 2016 | 99.3 | 97.4 | 1.8 points Raleigh-Cary higher |
| 2020 | 95.4 | 93.3 | 2.1 points Raleigh-Cary higher |
| 2024 | 98.2 | 97.7 | 0.4 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 Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent for the same purchasing power:
| In Raleigh-Cary | In Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,776 | $-224 |
| $75,000 | $74,664 | $-336 |
| $100,000 | $99,552 | $-448 |
| $150,000 | $149,328 | $-672 |
$ in Raleigh-Cary = in Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.2 → 97.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent more expensive than Raleigh-Cary?
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent is 0.4% less expensive than Raleigh-Cary. The overall cost index is 97.7 vs 98.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent equals $100K in Raleigh-Cary?
A $100,000 salary in Raleigh-Cary has the same purchasing power as $99,552 in Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Raleigh-Cary and Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent?
Rents in Raleigh-Cary are indexed at 103.5 while Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent is at 98.8 (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.