Overall
- Wilmington
- 96.4
- Gainesville
- 96.7
Diff +0.3 RPP
Wilmington vs Gainesville
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Gainesville is 0.3% more expensive than Wilmington.
0.3% more expensive
Gainesville, FL is 0.3% more expensive than Wilmington, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.7 vs 96.4). A $100,000 salary in Wilmington buys about the same as $100,323 in Gainesville; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 96.4 (Wilmington) vs 96.7 (Gainesville)
- $100k in Wilmington ≈ $100,323 purchasing power in Gainesville
- Goods drives the gap (-0.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:FL 96.4→96.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NC × FL
- 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.
Wilmington
96.4
Cost Index
Gainesville
96.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Wilmington, NC and Gainesville, FL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Goods creates the largest separation: Gainesville is 0.4 points lower. But goods and 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 goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $100,323 in Gainesville as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Wilmington, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Wilmington
- 96.6
- Gainesville
- 96.2
Diff -0.4 RPP
Services
- Wilmington
- 87.9
- Gainesville
- 88.2
Diff +0.3 RPP
Rents
- Wilmington
- 93.2
- Gainesville
- 93.0
Diff -0.2 RPP
| Category | Wilmington | Gainesville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 96.4 | 96.7 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 96.2 | -0.4 |
| Services | 87.9 | 88.2 | +0.3 |
| Rents | 93.2 | 93.0 | -0.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Wilmington 96.4
Gainesville 96.7
Goods
Wilmington 96.6
Gainesville 96.2
Services
Wilmington 87.9
Gainesville 88.2
Rents
Wilmington 93.2
Gainesville 93.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Wilmington would need to be in Gainesville for the same purchasing power:
| In Wilmington | In Gainesville | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,161 | +$161 |
| $75,000 | $75,242 | +$242 |
| $100,000 | $100,323 | +$323 |
| $150,000 | $150,484 | +$484 |
$ in Wilmington = in Gainesville
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (96.4 → 96.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Gainesville more expensive than Wilmington?
Gainesville is 0.3% more expensive than Wilmington. The overall cost index is 96.7 vs 96.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Gainesville equals $100K in Wilmington?
A $100,000 salary in Wilmington has the same purchasing power as $100,323 in Gainesville. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Wilmington and Gainesville?
Rents in Wilmington are indexed at 93.2 while Gainesville is at 93.0 (national average = 100). Wilmington 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.