Overall
- Winston-Salem
- 92.0
- Knoxville
- 92.6
Diff +0.5 RPP
Winston-Salem vs Knoxville
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Knoxville is 0.6% more expensive than Winston-Salem.
0.6% more expensive
Knoxville, TN is 0.6% more expensive than Winston-Salem, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.6 vs 92.0). A $100,000 salary in Winston-Salem buys about the same as $100,571 in Knoxville; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 92.0 (Winston-Salem) vs 92.6 (Knoxville)
- $100k in Winston-Salem ≈ $100,571 purchasing power in Knoxville
- Services drives the gap (-16.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:TN 92.0→92.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NC × TN
- 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
Knoxville
92.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Winston-Salem, NC and Knoxville, TN are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Knoxville is 16.6 points lower. But services and goods 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 $100,571 in Knoxville, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Winston-Salem
- 96.6
- Knoxville
- 96.2
Diff -0.4 RPP
Services
- Winston-Salem
- 88.4
- Knoxville
- 71.9
Diff -16.6 RPP
Rents
- Winston-Salem
- 71.4
- Knoxville
- 82.8
Diff +11.4 RPP
| Category | Winston-Salem | Knoxville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.0 | 92.6 | +0.5 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 96.2 | -0.4 |
| Services | 88.4 | 71.9 | -16.6 |
| Rents | 71.4 | 82.8 | +11.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Winston-Salem 92.0
Knoxville 92.6
Goods
Winston-Salem 96.6
Knoxville 96.2
Services
Winston-Salem 88.4
Knoxville 71.9
Rents
Winston-Salem 71.4
Knoxville 82.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Winston-Salem would need to be in Knoxville for the same purchasing power:
| In Winston-Salem | In Knoxville | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,286 | +$286 |
| $75,000 | $75,429 | +$429 |
| $100,000 | $100,571 | +$571 |
| $150,000 | $150,857 | +$857 |
$ in Winston-Salem = in Knoxville
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.0 → 92.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Knoxville more expensive than Winston-Salem?
Knoxville is 0.6% more expensive than Winston-Salem. The overall cost index is 92.6 vs 92.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Knoxville equals $100K in Winston-Salem?
A $100,000 salary in Winston-Salem has the same purchasing power as $100,571 in Knoxville. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Winston-Salem and Knoxville?
Rents in Winston-Salem are indexed at 71.4 while Knoxville is at 82.8 (national average = 100). Knoxville 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.