Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Greensboro's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Greensboro?
Your $100,000 in Greensboro has the same purchasing power as $114,299 in the average US city. You'd need $14,299 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Greensboro's cost index of 87, sorted by closest match.
Wondering whether you should move to Greensboro? It depends on what you're optimizing for, but the city has real arguments in its favor: your dollar carries more weight here and short commutes are the local norm, plus 1 more things worth knowing. The data behind each is below.
Greensboro sits at 87 on the composite cost-of-living index — about 13% under the national average. Not the cheapest place in the country, but enough of a discount to notice on rent and groceries every month. Median rent in town runs about $1,048/mo against a typical household income of $55,051, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
The average one-way commute in Greensboro is about 21 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
40% of adults 25 and over in Greensboro hold a bachelor's degree or higher — meaningfully above the US average of around 36%. That correlates with the things you'd expect: stronger schools, more white-collar employers, more bookstores than the population alone would predict.
Reasons are pulled from Greensboro's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Greensboro gets a handful of meaningful snow days each year. Winters average about 32°F — cold enough for several inches at a time, warm enough for everything to melt between storms.
Cold but workable. Winter in Greensboro averages about 32°F — colder than the national norm, mild compared to the upper Midwest. A solid coat handles most days; the genuine cold snaps are short.
Hot, but not desert-hot. Summer in Greensboro runs about 87°F on average, with afternoons in the 90s and humidity that varies by region. AC is standard rather than optional.
Greensboro falls in roughly USDA Zone 8. The zone classification is based on average annual minimum temperatures, so it's the right lookup for whether perennials and trees will overwinter here. Note that this is approximate from our winter-temperature data — check the USDA map for the exact zone before betting an expensive plant on it.
Greensboro is at about 840 feet (256 m) above sea level. High enough to be solidly above any coastal concern, low enough that altitude isn't a factor.
Hurricane season covers June through November, with peak activity in late summer and early fall. For Greensboro, the practical advice is: have a few days of water and supplies on hand from August onward, know your evacuation route, and don't wait for the news to tell you a storm is "probably nothing" — track the cone yourself.
Higher than average. Greensboro reports about 4,645 incidents per 100,000 residents, above the US average of around 3,500. Citywide numbers are often dragged up by a few hotspots; specific neighborhoods can be very safe in cities that don't look great on paper, and vice versa.
No — your dollar actually goes further here. Greensboro's composite cost-of-living index is 87, roughly 13% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Mostly car-dependent. Greensboro's Walk Score of 43/100 means a handful of errands work on foot — depending on the neighborhood — but most residents still need a car for the rest.
Roughly $61,243 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Greensboro runs about $1,048/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.