Overall
- Winston-Salem
- 92.0
- Williamsport
- 92.3
Diff +0.3 RPP
Winston-Salem vs Williamsport
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Williamsport is 0.3% more expensive than Winston-Salem.
0.3% more expensive
Williamsport, PA is 0.3% more expensive than Winston-Salem, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.3 vs 92.0). A $100,000 salary in Winston-Salem buys about the same as $100,334 in Williamsport; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 92.0 (Winston-Salem) vs 92.3 (Williamsport)
- $100k in Winston-Salem ≈ $100,334 purchasing power in Williamsport
- Services drives the gap (+19.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:PA 92.0→92.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NC × PA
- 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
Williamsport
92.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Winston-Salem, NC and Williamsport, PA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Williamsport is 19.0 points higher. But rents 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 $100,334 in Williamsport, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Winston-Salem
- 96.6
- Williamsport
- 100.7
Diff +4.1 RPP
Services
- Winston-Salem
- 88.4
- Williamsport
- 107.5
Diff +19.0 RPP
Rents
- Winston-Salem
- 71.4
- Williamsport
- 64.4
Diff -7.0 RPP
| Category | Winston-Salem | Williamsport | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.0 | 92.3 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 100.7 | +4.1 |
| Services | 88.4 | 107.5 | +19.0 |
| Rents | 71.4 | 64.4 | -7.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Winston-Salem 92.0
Williamsport 92.3
Goods
Winston-Salem 96.6
Williamsport 100.7
Services
Winston-Salem 88.4
Williamsport 107.5
Rents
Winston-Salem 71.4
Williamsport 64.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Winston-Salem and Williamsport share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 3.1 to 0.3 RPP points. Williamsport remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 7.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (0.1 to 7.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Winston-Salem RPP | Williamsport RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 91.9 | 95.0 | 3.1 points Williamsport higher |
| 2012 | 92.6 | 92.9 | 0.3 points Williamsport higher |
| 2016 | 93.1 | 95.4 | 2.3 points Williamsport higher |
| 2020 | 89.5 | 93.6 | 4.2 points Williamsport higher |
| 2024 | 92.0 | 92.3 | 0.3 points Williamsport 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 Williamsport for the same purchasing power:
| In Winston-Salem | In Williamsport | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,167 | +$167 |
| $75,000 | $75,250 | +$250 |
| $100,000 | $100,334 | +$334 |
| $150,000 | $150,500 | +$500 |
$ in Winston-Salem = in Williamsport
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.0 → 92.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Williamsport more expensive than Winston-Salem?
Williamsport is 0.3% more expensive than Winston-Salem. The overall cost index is 92.3 vs 92.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Williamsport equals $100K in Winston-Salem?
A $100,000 salary in Winston-Salem has the same purchasing power as $100,334 in Williamsport. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Winston-Salem and Williamsport?
Rents in Winston-Salem are indexed at 71.4 while Williamsport is at 64.4 (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.