Overall
- Wilmington
- 96.4
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 98.7
Diff +2.2 RPP
Wilmington vs Harrisburg-Carlisle
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Harrisburg-Carlisle is 2.3% more expensive than Wilmington.
2.3% more expensive
Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA is 2.3% more expensive than Wilmington, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.7 vs 96.4). A $100,000 salary in Wilmington buys about the same as $102,311 in Harrisburg-Carlisle; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 96.4 (Wilmington) vs 98.7 (Harrisburg-Carlisle)
- $100k in Wilmington ≈ $102,311 purchasing power in Harrisburg-Carlisle
- Services drives the gap (+20.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:PA 96.4→98.7
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NC × PA
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA is 2.3% more expensive than Wilmington, NC, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.2-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Harrisburg-Carlisle 20.2 points higher than Wilmington. 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Wilmington to $102,311 in Harrisburg-Carlisle, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Wilmington and Harrisburg-Carlisle share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 5.7 to 2.2 RPP points. Harrisburg-Carlisle remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 9.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (29.5 to 20.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Wilmington RPP | Harrisburg-Carlisle RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 93.2 | 99.0 | 5.7 points Harrisburg-Carlisle higher |
| 2012 | 95.2 | 97.0 | 1.8 points Harrisburg-Carlisle higher |
| 2016 | 95.1 | 98.2 | 3.0 points Harrisburg-Carlisle higher |
| 2020 | 94.0 | 96.1 | 2.1 points Harrisburg-Carlisle higher |
| 2024 | 96.4 | 98.7 | 2.2 points Harrisburg-Carlisle 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Wilmington
- 96.6
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 100.7
Diff +4.1 RPP
Services
- Wilmington
- 87.9
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 108.1
Diff +20.2 RPP
Rents
- Wilmington
- 93.2
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 96.3
Diff +3.1 RPP
| Category | Wilmington | Harrisburg-Carlisle | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 96.4 | 98.7 | +2.2 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 100.7 | +4.1 |
| Services | 87.9 | 108.1 | +20.2 |
| Rents | 93.2 | 96.3 | +3.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Wilmington 96.4
Harrisburg-Carlisle 98.7
Goods
Wilmington 96.6
Harrisburg-Carlisle 100.7
Services
Wilmington 87.9
Harrisburg-Carlisle 108.1
Rents
Wilmington 93.2
Harrisburg-Carlisle 96.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Wilmington would need to be in Harrisburg-Carlisle for the same purchasing power:
| In Wilmington | In Harrisburg-Carlisle | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,155 | +$1,155 |
| $75,000 | $76,733 | +$1,733 |
| $100,000 | $102,311 | +$2,311 |
| $150,000 | $153,466 | +$3,466 |
$ in Wilmington = in Harrisburg-Carlisle
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (96.4 → 98.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Wilmington
96.4
Cost Index
Harrisburg-Carlisle
98.7
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Harrisburg-Carlisle more expensive than Wilmington?
Harrisburg-Carlisle is 2.3% more expensive than Wilmington. The overall cost index is 98.7 vs 96.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Harrisburg-Carlisle equals $100K in Wilmington?
A $100,000 salary in Wilmington has the same purchasing power as $102,311 in Harrisburg-Carlisle. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Wilmington and Harrisburg-Carlisle?
Rents in Wilmington are indexed at 93.2 while Harrisburg-Carlisle is at 96.3 (national average = 100). Harrisburg-Carlisle 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.