Compare cities and metro areas ranked by the 2024 BEA cost-of-living index in North Carolina. 15 metro areas are available.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Rocky Mount, NC has the lowest overall Regional Price Parity in this North Carolina ranking at 88.0. The national average is 100, so this comparison identifies the lowest relative price level among the metro areas BEA reports; it does not estimate a household budget or citywide inflation.
A data-shaped reading
The sequence below follows the strongest decision signal in this state's component mix, metro spread, retained-release movement, and national-benchmark coverage.
Strength of the lead
Only 0.3 index points separate Rocky Mount, NC from Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC. Treat rank number one as a shortlist signal, not a decisive winner: a later BEA release or a household that weights rent differently could reverse the order. The full listed range is 10.1 points.
Component driver
Rocky Mount, NC's rents index is 56.1, compared with 96.6 for goods and 88.4 for services. That places housing 31.9 points below the metro's overall index. This is a deep housing-led discount, so renters capture much more of the headline advantage than owners with a fixed mortgage.
Latest retained release
From 2023 to 2024, Rocky Mount, NC's overall RPP fell by 0.3 points. The largest component move was rents, which changed by + 4.3 points. Because RPP is relative to the national price level, this describes movement against the U.S. benchmark, not literal deflation or inflation in a household's bills.
National benchmark coverage
All 15 metros in this ranking sit below 100, with an average overall index of 92.7. That makes the low-price pattern broader than a single outlier. It still does not cover nonmetro communities, and a lower price level says nothing by itself about local wages.
| # | Metro | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rocky Mount, NC | 88.0 |
| 2 | Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC | 88.3 |
| 3 | Greenville, NC | 88.4 |
| 4 | Goldsboro, NC | 88.5 |
| 5 | Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC | 88.5 |
| 6 | Fayetteville, NC | 92.0 |
| 7 | Winston-Salem, NC | 92.0 |
| 8 | Jacksonville, NC | 92.1 |
| 9 | Greensboro-High Point, NC | 92.9 |
| 10 | Burlington, NC | 93.2 |
| 11 | Wilmington, NC | 96.4 |
| 12 | Asheville, NC | 96.5 |
| 13 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 97.3 |
| 14 | Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | 97.6 |
| 15 | Raleigh-Cary, NC | 98.2 |
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities Index where national average = 100
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
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.