Overall
- Winston-Salem
- 92.0
Diff -0.1 RPP
Winston-Salem vs Augusta-Richmond County
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Augusta-Richmond County is 0.2% less expensive than Winston-Salem.
0.2% less expensive
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC is 0.2% less expensive than Winston-Salem, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.9 vs 92.0). A $100,000 salary in Winston-Salem buys about the same as $99,848 in Augusta-Richmond County; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 92.0 (Winston-Salem) vs 91.9 (Augusta-Richmond County)
- $100k in Winston-Salem ≈ $99,848 purchasing power in Augusta-Richmond County
- Services drives the gap (+1.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:GA 92.0→91.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NC × GA
- 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.
Winston-Salem
92.0
Cost Index
Augusta-Richmond County
91.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Winston-Salem, NC and Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Augusta-Richmond County is 1.1 points higher. But services 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Winston-Salem to $99,848 in Augusta-Richmond County, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Winston-Salem
- 96.6
Diff -0.3 RPP
Services
- Winston-Salem
- 88.4
Diff +1.1 RPP
Rents
- Winston-Salem
- 71.4
Diff -0.8 RPP
| Category | Winston-Salem | Augusta-Richmond County | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.0 | 91.9 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 96.3 | -0.3 |
| Services | 88.4 | 89.5 | +1.1 |
| Rents | 71.4 | 70.6 | -0.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Winston-Salem 92.0
Augusta-Richmond County 91.9
Goods
Winston-Salem 96.6
Augusta-Richmond County 96.3
Services
Winston-Salem 88.4
Augusta-Richmond County 89.5
Rents
Winston-Salem 71.4
Augusta-Richmond County 70.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Winston-Salem and Augusta-Richmond County share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.8 to 0.1 RPP points. Winston-Salem remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 2.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (3.1 to 1.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Winston-Salem RPP | Augusta-Richmond County RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 91.9 | 91.1 | 0.8 points Winston-Salem higher |
| 2012 | 92.6 | 93.5 | 0.8 points Augusta-Richmond County higher |
| 2016 | 93.1 | 93.6 | 0.5 points Augusta-Richmond County higher |
| 2020 | 89.5 | 89.7 | 0.2 points Augusta-Richmond County higher |
| 2024 | 92.0 | 91.9 | 0.1 points Winston-Salem 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 Winston-Salem would need to be in Augusta-Richmond County for the same purchasing power:
| In Winston-Salem | In Augusta-Richmond County | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,924 | $-76 |
| $75,000 | $74,886 | $-114 |
| $100,000 | $99,848 | $-152 |
| $150,000 | $149,772 | $-228 |
$ in Winston-Salem = in Augusta-Richmond County
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.0 → 91.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Augusta-Richmond County more expensive than Winston-Salem?
Augusta-Richmond County is 0.2% less expensive than Winston-Salem. The overall cost index is 91.9 vs 92.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Augusta-Richmond County equals $100K in Winston-Salem?
A $100,000 salary in Winston-Salem has the same purchasing power as $99,848 in Augusta-Richmond County. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Winston-Salem and Augusta-Richmond County?
Rents in Winston-Salem are indexed at 71.4 while Augusta-Richmond County is at 70.6 (national average = 100). Winston-Salem 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.