Overall
- Raleigh-Cary
- 98.2
- Salem
- 103.6
Diff +5.5 RPP
Raleigh-Cary vs Salem
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Salem is 5.6% more expensive than Raleigh-Cary.
5.6% more expensive
Salem, OR is 5.6% more expensive than Raleigh-Cary, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 98.2). A $100,000 salary in Raleigh-Cary buys about the same as $105,595 in Salem; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.2 (Raleigh-Cary) vs 103.6 (Salem)
- $100k in Raleigh-Cary ≈ $105,595 purchasing power in Salem
- Services drives the gap (+15.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:OR 98.2→103.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NC × OR
- SERVICES-LED Services-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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Salem, OR 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: Salem is above 100 while Raleigh-Cary is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Services leads the difference, with Salem 15.7 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Raleigh-Cary to $105,595 in Salem, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Raleigh-Cary and Salem share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 2.9 to 5.5 RPP points. Salem remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 17.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (10.2 to 6.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Raleigh-Cary RPP | Salem RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.0 | 94.1 | 2.9 points Raleigh-Cary higher |
| 2012 | 98.0 | 101.1 | 3.1 points Salem higher |
| 2016 | 99.3 | 97.1 | 2.2 points Raleigh-Cary higher |
| 2020 | 95.4 | 100.9 | 5.5 points Salem higher |
| 2024 | 98.2 | 103.6 | 5.5 points Salem 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Raleigh-Cary
- 96.6
- Salem
- 105.3
Diff +8.6 RPP
Services
- Raleigh-Cary
- 89.0
- Salem
- 104.7
Diff +15.7 RPP
Rents
- Raleigh-Cary
- 103.5
- Salem
- 110.3
Diff +6.9 RPP
| Category | Raleigh-Cary | Salem | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.2 | 103.6 | +5.5 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 105.3 | +8.6 |
| Services | 89.0 | 104.7 | +15.7 |
| Rents | 103.5 | 110.3 | +6.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Raleigh-Cary 98.2
Salem 103.6
Goods
Raleigh-Cary 96.6
Salem 105.3
Services
Raleigh-Cary 89.0
Salem 104.7
Rents
Raleigh-Cary 103.5
Salem 110.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Raleigh-Cary would need to be in Salem for the same purchasing power:
| In Raleigh-Cary | In Salem | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,798 | +$2,798 |
| $75,000 | $79,196 | +$4,196 |
| $100,000 | $105,595 | +$5,595 |
| $150,000 | $158,393 | +$8,393 |
$ in Raleigh-Cary = in Salem
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.2 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Raleigh-Cary
98.2
Cost Index
Salem
103.6
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Salem more expensive than Raleigh-Cary?
Salem is 5.6% more expensive than Raleigh-Cary. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 98.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Salem equals $100K in Raleigh-Cary?
A $100,000 salary in Raleigh-Cary has the same purchasing power as $105,595 in Salem. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Raleigh-Cary and Salem?
Rents in Raleigh-Cary are indexed at 103.5 while Salem is at 110.3 (national average = 100). Salem 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.