Overall
- Walla Walla
- 98.5
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 97.6
Diff -0.9 RPP
Walla Walla vs Durham-Chapel Hill
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Durham-Chapel Hill is 1% less expensive than Walla Walla.
1% less expensive
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC is 1% less expensive than Walla Walla, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.6 vs 98.5). A $100,000 salary in Walla Walla buys about the same as $99,039 in Durham-Chapel Hill; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.5 (Walla Walla) vs 97.6 (Durham-Chapel Hill)
- $100k in Walla Walla ≈ $99,039 purchasing power in Durham-Chapel Hill
- Rents drives the gap (+12.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:NC 98.5→97.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WA × 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.
Walla Walla
98.5
Cost Index
Durham-Chapel Hill
97.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Walla Walla, WA and Durham-Chapel Hill, NC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.9 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Durham-Chapel Hill is 12.4 points higher. 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 Walla Walla corresponds to $99,039 in Durham-Chapel Hill.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Walla Walla
- 105.0
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 96.6
Diff -8.4 RPP
Services
- Walla Walla
- 94.3
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 89.3
Diff -5.0 RPP
Rents
- Walla Walla
- 86.6
- Durham-Chapel Hill
- 98.9
Diff +12.4 RPP
| Category | Walla Walla | Durham-Chapel Hill | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.5 | 97.6 | -0.9 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 96.6 | -8.4 |
| Services | 94.3 | 89.3 | -5.0 |
| Rents | 86.6 | 98.9 | +12.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Walla Walla 98.5
Durham-Chapel Hill 97.6
Goods
Walla Walla 105.0
Durham-Chapel Hill 96.6
Services
Walla Walla 94.3
Durham-Chapel Hill 89.3
Rents
Walla Walla 86.6
Durham-Chapel Hill 98.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Walla Walla and Durham-Chapel Hill share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 1.7 to 0.9 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 (20.7 to 5.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Walla Walla RPP | Durham-Chapel Hill RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.6 | 97.3 | 1.7 points Durham-Chapel Hill higher |
| 2012 | 95.1 | 96.7 | 1.5 points Durham-Chapel Hill higher |
| 2016 | 96.3 | 97.5 | 1.2 points Durham-Chapel Hill higher |
| 2020 | 95.2 | 94.8 | 0.3 points Walla Walla higher |
| 2024 | 98.5 | 97.6 | 0.9 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 Walla Walla would need to be in Durham-Chapel Hill for the same purchasing power:
| In Walla Walla | In Durham-Chapel Hill | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,519 | $-481 |
| $75,000 | $74,279 | $-721 |
| $100,000 | $99,039 | $-961 |
| $150,000 | $148,558 | $-1,442 |
$ in Walla Walla = in Durham-Chapel Hill
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.5 → 97.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Durham-Chapel Hill more expensive than Walla Walla?
Durham-Chapel Hill is 1% less expensive than Walla Walla. The overall cost index is 97.6 vs 98.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Durham-Chapel Hill equals $100K in Walla Walla?
A $100,000 salary in Walla Walla has the same purchasing power as $99,039 in Durham-Chapel Hill. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Walla Walla and Durham-Chapel Hill?
Rents in Walla Walla are indexed at 86.6 while Durham-Chapel Hill is at 98.9 (national average = 100). Durham-Chapel Hill 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.