Overall
- Raleigh-Cary
- 98.2
- Walla Walla
- 98.5
Diff +0.4 RPP
Raleigh-Cary vs Walla Walla
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Walla Walla is 0.4% more expensive than Raleigh-Cary.
0.4% more expensive
Walla Walla, WA is 0.4% more expensive than Raleigh-Cary, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.5 vs 98.2). A $100,000 salary in Raleigh-Cary buys about the same as $100,369 in Walla Walla; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.2 (Raleigh-Cary) vs 98.5 (Walla Walla)
- $100k in Raleigh-Cary ≈ $100,369 purchasing power in Walla Walla
- Rents drives the gap (-16.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:WA 98.2→98.5
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NC × WA
- 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.
Raleigh-Cary
98.2
Cost Index
Walla Walla
98.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Raleigh-Cary, NC and Walla Walla, WA 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 creates the largest separation: Walla Walla is 16.9 points lower. But rents 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 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 $100,369 in Walla Walla.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Raleigh-Cary
- 96.6
- Walla Walla
- 105.0
Diff +8.4 RPP
Services
- Raleigh-Cary
- 89.0
- Walla Walla
- 94.3
Diff +5.3 RPP
Rents
- Raleigh-Cary
- 103.5
- Walla Walla
- 86.6
Diff -16.9 RPP
| Category | Raleigh-Cary | Walla Walla | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.2 | 98.5 | +0.4 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 105.0 | +8.4 |
| Services | 89.0 | 94.3 | +5.3 |
| Rents | 103.5 | 86.6 | -16.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Raleigh-Cary 98.2
Walla Walla 98.5
Goods
Raleigh-Cary 96.6
Walla Walla 105.0
Services
Raleigh-Cary 89.0
Walla Walla 94.3
Rents
Raleigh-Cary 103.5
Walla Walla 86.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Raleigh-Cary and Walla Walla share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 1.4 to 0.4 RPP points. Walla Walla remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 25.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (20.3 to 5.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Raleigh-Cary RPP | Walla Walla RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.0 | 95.6 | 1.4 points Raleigh-Cary higher |
| 2012 | 98.0 | 95.1 | 2.9 points Raleigh-Cary higher |
| 2016 | 99.3 | 96.3 | 3.0 points Raleigh-Cary higher |
| 2020 | 95.4 | 95.2 | 0.2 points Raleigh-Cary higher |
| 2024 | 98.2 | 98.5 | 0.4 points Walla Walla 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 Walla Walla for the same purchasing power:
| In Raleigh-Cary | In Walla Walla | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,184 | +$184 |
| $75,000 | $75,277 | +$277 |
| $100,000 | $100,369 | +$369 |
| $150,000 | $150,553 | +$553 |
$ in Raleigh-Cary = in Walla Walla
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.2 → 98.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Walla Walla more expensive than Raleigh-Cary?
Walla Walla is 0.4% more expensive than Raleigh-Cary. The overall cost index is 98.5 vs 98.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Walla Walla equals $100K in Raleigh-Cary?
A $100,000 salary in Raleigh-Cary has the same purchasing power as $100,369 in Walla Walla. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Raleigh-Cary and Walla Walla?
Rents in Raleigh-Cary are indexed at 103.5 while Walla Walla is at 86.6 (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.