Overall
- Wilmington
- 96.4
- Lancaster
- 98.3
Diff +1.8 RPP
Wilmington vs Lancaster
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lancaster is 1.9% more expensive than Wilmington.
1.9% more expensive
Lancaster, PA is 1.9% more expensive than Wilmington, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 96.4). A $100,000 salary in Wilmington buys about the same as $101,903 in Lancaster; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 96.4 (Wilmington) vs 98.3 (Lancaster)
- $100k in Wilmington ≈ $101,903 purchasing power in Lancaster
- Services drives the gap (+19.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:PA 96.4→98.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- 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.
Wilmington
96.4
Cost Index
Lancaster
98.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Wilmington, NC and Lancaster, PA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.8 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with Lancaster 19.4 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.
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 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 $101,903 in Lancaster, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Wilmington
- 96.6
- Lancaster
- 100.7
Diff +4.1 RPP
Services
- Wilmington
- 87.9
- Lancaster
- 107.3
Diff +19.4 RPP
Rents
- Wilmington
- 93.2
- Lancaster
- 93.8
Diff +0.6 RPP
| Category | Wilmington | Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 96.4 | 98.3 | +1.8 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 100.7 | +4.1 |
| Services | 87.9 | 107.3 | +19.4 |
| Rents | 93.2 | 93.8 | +0.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Wilmington 96.4
Lancaster 98.3
Goods
Wilmington 96.6
Lancaster 100.7
Services
Wilmington 87.9
Lancaster 107.3
Rents
Wilmington 93.2
Lancaster 93.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Wilmington and Lancaster share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 6.9 to 1.8 RPP points. Lancaster remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 9.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (10.2 to 0.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Wilmington RPP | Lancaster RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 93.2 | 100.2 | 6.9 points Lancaster higher |
| 2012 | 95.2 | 97.8 | 2.6 points Lancaster higher |
| 2016 | 95.1 | 99.4 | 4.3 points Lancaster higher |
| 2020 | 94.0 | 97.9 | 3.8 points Lancaster higher |
| 2024 | 96.4 | 98.3 | 1.8 points Lancaster 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 Wilmington would need to be in Lancaster for the same purchasing power:
| In Wilmington | In Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,952 | +$952 |
| $75,000 | $76,427 | +$1,427 |
| $100,000 | $101,903 | +$1,903 |
| $150,000 | $152,855 | +$2,855 |
$ in Wilmington = in Lancaster
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (96.4 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lancaster more expensive than Wilmington?
Lancaster is 1.9% more expensive than Wilmington. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 96.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lancaster equals $100K in Wilmington?
A $100,000 salary in Wilmington has the same purchasing power as $101,903 in Lancaster. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Wilmington and Lancaster?
Rents in Wilmington are indexed at 93.2 while Lancaster is at 93.8 (national average = 100). Lancaster 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.