Overall
- Santa Fe
- 98.8
- Wilmington
- 96.4
Diff -2.3 RPP
Santa Fe vs Wilmington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Wilmington is 2.4% less expensive than Santa Fe.
2.4% less expensive
Wilmington, NC is 2.4% less expensive than Santa Fe, NM on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.4 vs 98.8). A $100,000 salary in Santa Fe buys about the same as $97,626 in Wilmington; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.8 (Santa Fe) vs 96.4 (Wilmington)
- $100k in Santa Fe ≈ $97,626 purchasing power in Wilmington
- Rents drives the gap (-14.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NM:NC 98.8→96.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NM × NC
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Santa Fe
- 96.1
- Wilmington
- 96.6
Diff +0.5 RPP
Services
- Santa Fe
- 76.7
- Wilmington
- 87.9
Diff +11.2 RPP
Rents
- Santa Fe
- 108.0
- Wilmington
- 93.2
Diff -14.8 RPP
| Category | Santa Fe | Wilmington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.8 | 96.4 | -2.3 |
| Goods | 96.1 | 96.6 | +0.5 |
| Services | 76.7 | 87.9 | +11.2 |
| Rents | 108.0 | 93.2 | -14.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Santa Fe 98.8
Wilmington 96.4
Goods
Santa Fe 96.1
Wilmington 96.6
Services
Santa Fe 76.7
Wilmington 87.9
Rents
Santa Fe 108.0
Wilmington 93.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Wilmington is 14.8 points lower. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Wilmington, NC is 2.4% less expensive than Santa Fe, NM, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.3-point overall gap.
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.
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 Santa Fe corresponds to $97,626 in Wilmington.
Santa Fe
98.8
Cost Index
Wilmington
96.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Santa Fe would need to be in Wilmington for the same purchasing power:
| In Santa Fe | In Wilmington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,813 | $-1,187 |
| $75,000 | $73,219 | $-1,781 |
| $100,000 | $97,626 | $-2,374 |
| $150,000 | $146,439 | $-3,561 |
$ in Santa Fe = in Wilmington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.8 → 96.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Santa Fe and Wilmington share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 4.8 to 2.3 RPP points. Santa Fe remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 14.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (3.6 to 11.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Santa Fe RPP | Wilmington RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.0 | 93.2 | 4.8 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2012 | 102.1 | 95.2 | 6.9 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2016 | 98.4 | 95.1 | 3.3 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2020 | 96.6 | 94.0 | 2.6 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2024 | 98.8 | 96.4 | 2.3 points Santa Fe 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 Santa Fe?
Wilmington is 2.4% less expensive than Santa Fe. The overall cost index is 96.4 vs 98.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Wilmington equals $100K in Santa Fe?
A $100,000 salary in Santa Fe has the same purchasing power as $97,626 in Wilmington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Santa Fe and Wilmington?
Rents in Santa Fe are indexed at 108.0 while Wilmington is at 93.2 (national average = 100). Santa Fe 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.