Overall
- Salem
- 103.6
Diff -2.7 RPP
Salem vs Burlington-South Burlington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Burlington-South Burlington is 2.6% less expensive than Salem.
2.6% less expensive
Burlington-South Burlington, VT is 2.6% less expensive than Salem, OR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.9 vs 103.6). A $100,000 salary in Salem buys about the same as $97,395 in Burlington-South Burlington; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 103.6 (Salem) vs 100.9 (Burlington-South Burlington)
- $100k in Salem ≈ $97,395 purchasing power in Burlington-South Burlington
- Services drives the gap (+20.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair OR:VT 103.6→100.9
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE OR × VT
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Salem
- 105.3
Diff -8.0 RPP
Services
- Salem
- 104.7
Diff +20.9 RPP
Rents
- Salem
- 110.3
Diff -6.5 RPP
| Category | Salem | Burlington-South Burlington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.6 | 100.9 | -2.7 |
| Goods | 105.3 | 97.3 | -8.0 |
| Services | 104.7 | 125.5 | +20.9 |
| Rents | 110.3 | 103.8 | -6.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Salem 103.6
Burlington-South Burlington 100.9
Goods
Salem 105.3
Burlington-South Burlington 97.3
Services
Salem 104.7
Burlington-South Burlington 125.5
Rents
Salem 110.3
Burlington-South Burlington 103.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Burlington-South Burlington is 20.9 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Burlington-South Burlington, VT is 2.6% less expensive than Salem, OR, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.7-point overall gap.
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
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 Salem to $97,395 in Burlington-South Burlington, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Salem
103.6
Cost Index
Burlington-South Burlington
100.9
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Salem would need to be in Burlington-South Burlington for the same purchasing power:
| In Salem | In Burlington-South Burlington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,698 | $-1,302 |
| $75,000 | $73,046 | $-1,954 |
| $100,000 | $97,395 | $-2,605 |
| $150,000 | $146,093 | $-3,907 |
$ in Salem = in Burlington-South Burlington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.6 → 100.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Salem and Burlington-South Burlington share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 8.9 to 2.7 RPP points. Salem remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 39.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (33.1 to 6.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Salem RPP | Burlington-South Burlington RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.1 | 103.1 | 8.9 points Burlington-South Burlington higher |
| 2012 | 101.1 | 102.7 | 1.6 points Burlington-South Burlington higher |
| 2016 | 97.1 | 102.1 | 5.0 points Burlington-South Burlington higher |
| 2020 | 100.9 | 105.1 | 4.1 points Burlington-South Burlington higher |
| 2024 | 103.6 | 100.9 | 2.7 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Burlington-South Burlington more expensive than Salem?
Burlington-South Burlington is 2.6% less expensive than Salem. The overall cost index is 100.9 vs 103.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Burlington-South Burlington equals $100K in Salem?
A $100,000 salary in Salem has the same purchasing power as $97,395 in Burlington-South Burlington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Salem and Burlington-South Burlington?
Rents in Salem are indexed at 110.3 while Burlington-South Burlington is at 103.8 (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.