City comparison
Cost indices by category, with the US city average (100) marked.
Index: 100 = US city average. Lower is more affordable.
Side-by-side costs, salaries, and sub-category indices.
| Metric | Wilmington | Winston-Salem | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,213/mo | $956/mo | 26.9% higher in A |
| Median home value | $318,600 | $187,400 | 70.0% higher in A |
| Median household income | $58,908 | $54,416 | 8.3% higher in A |
| Groceries index | 100.2 | 97.2 | 3.1% higher in A |
| Utilities index | 97.5 | 93.5 | 4.2% higher in A |
| Transportation index | 84.9 | 79.8 | 6.5% higher in A |
| Healthcare index | 99.8 | 91.6 | 8.9% higher in A |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Wilmington, you'd need $87,967 in Winston-Salem to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Winston-Salem, NC is about 12% cheaper overall than Wilmington, NC, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 21% lower in Winston-Salem than in Wilmington. If you earn $80,000 in Wilmington, you'd need about $70,374 in Winston-Salem to keep the same standard of living.