Overall
- Wilmington
- 96.4
- Walla Walla
- 98.5
Diff +2.1 RPP
Wilmington vs Walla Walla
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Walla Walla is 2.2% more expensive than Wilmington.
2.2% more expensive
Walla Walla, WA is 2.2% more expensive than Wilmington, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.5 vs 96.4). A $100,000 salary in Wilmington buys about the same as $102,175 in Walla Walla; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 96.4 (Wilmington) vs 98.5 (Walla Walla)
- $100k in Wilmington ≈ $102,175 purchasing power in Walla Walla
- Goods drives the gap (+8.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:WA 96.4→98.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NC × WA
- 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
- Wilmington
- 96.6
- Walla Walla
- 105.0
Diff +8.4 RPP
Services
- Wilmington
- 87.9
- Walla Walla
- 94.3
Diff +6.4 RPP
Rents
- Wilmington
- 93.2
- Walla Walla
- 86.6
Diff -6.6 RPP
| Category | Wilmington | Walla Walla | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 96.4 | 98.5 | +2.1 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 105.0 | +8.4 |
| Services | 87.9 | 94.3 | +6.4 |
| Rents | 93.2 | 86.6 | -6.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Wilmington 96.4
Walla Walla 98.5
Goods
Wilmington 96.6
Walla Walla 105.0
Services
Wilmington 87.9
Walla Walla 94.3
Rents
Wilmington 93.2
Walla Walla 86.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Goods creates the largest separation: Walla Walla is 8.4 points higher. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Walla Walla, WA is 2.2% more expensive than Wilmington, NC, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.1-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 goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $102,175 in Walla Walla as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Wilmington, then replace the national basket with your own.
Wilmington
96.4
Cost Index
Walla Walla
98.5
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Wilmington would need to be in Walla Walla for the same purchasing power:
| In Wilmington | In Walla Walla | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,087 | +$1,087 |
| $75,000 | $76,631 | +$1,631 |
| $100,000 | $102,175 | +$2,175 |
| $150,000 | $153,262 | +$3,262 |
$ in Wilmington = in Walla Walla
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (96.4 → 98.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Wilmington and Walla Walla share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 2.4 to 2.1 RPP points. Walla Walla remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 20.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (14.4 to 6.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Wilmington RPP | Walla Walla RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 93.2 | 95.6 | 2.4 points Walla Walla higher |
| 2012 | 95.2 | 95.1 | 0.0 points Wilmington higher |
| 2016 | 95.1 | 96.3 | 1.2 points Walla Walla higher |
| 2020 | 94.0 | 95.2 | 1.1 points Walla Walla higher |
| 2024 | 96.4 | 98.5 | 2.1 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Walla Walla more expensive than Wilmington?
Walla Walla is 2.2% more expensive than Wilmington. The overall cost index is 98.5 vs 96.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Walla Walla equals $100K in Wilmington?
A $100,000 salary in Wilmington has the same purchasing power as $102,175 in Walla Walla. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Wilmington and Walla Walla?
Rents in Wilmington are indexed at 93.2 while Walla Walla is at 86.6 (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.