Overall
- Salem
- 103.6
- Wilmington
- 96.4
Diff -7.2 RPP
Salem vs Wilmington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Wilmington is 7% less expensive than Salem.
7% less expensive
Wilmington, NC is 7% less expensive than Salem, OR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.4 vs 103.6). A $100,000 salary in Salem buys about the same as $93,027 in Wilmington; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.6 (Salem) vs 96.4 (Wilmington)
- $100k in Salem ≈ $93,027 purchasing power in Wilmington
- Rents drives the gap (-17.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair OR:NC 103.6→96.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE OR × NC
- 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 Salem would need to be in Wilmington for the same purchasing power:
| In Salem | In Wilmington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,514 | $-3,486 |
| $75,000 | $69,771 | $-5,229 |
| $100,000 | $93,027 | $-6,973 |
| $150,000 | $139,541 | $-10,459 |
$ in Salem = in Wilmington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.6 → 96.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Wilmington, NC is 7% less expensive than Salem, OR, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 7.2-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Salem is above 100 while Wilmington is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Wilmington 17.1 points lower than Salem. 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 Salem corresponds to $93,027 in Wilmington.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Salem
- 105.3
- Wilmington
- 96.6
Diff -8.6 RPP
Services
- Salem
- 104.7
- Wilmington
- 87.9
Diff -16.8 RPP
Rents
- Salem
- 110.3
- Wilmington
- 93.2
Diff -17.1 RPP
| Category | Salem | Wilmington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.6 | 96.4 | -7.2 |
| Goods | 105.3 | 96.6 | -8.6 |
| Services | 104.7 | 87.9 | -16.8 |
| Rents | 110.3 | 93.2 | -17.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Salem 103.6
Wilmington 96.4
Goods
Salem 105.3
Wilmington 96.6
Services
Salem 104.7
Wilmington 87.9
Rents
Salem 110.3
Wilmington 93.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salem
103.6
Cost Index
Wilmington
96.4
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Salem and Wilmington share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 0.9 to 7.2 RPP points. Salem remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 18.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (0.8 to 17.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Salem RPP | Wilmington RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.1 | 93.2 | 0.9 points Salem higher |
| 2012 | 101.1 | 95.2 | 5.9 points Salem higher |
| 2016 | 97.1 | 95.1 | 2.0 points Salem higher |
| 2020 | 100.9 | 94.0 | 6.9 points Salem higher |
| 2024 | 103.6 | 96.4 | 7.2 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 Wilmington more expensive than Salem?
Wilmington is 7% less expensive than Salem. The overall cost index is 96.4 vs 103.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Wilmington equals $100K in Salem?
A $100,000 salary in Salem has the same purchasing power as $93,027 in Wilmington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Salem and Wilmington?
Rents in Salem are indexed at 110.3 while Wilmington is at 93.2 (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.