Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Wilson's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Wilson?
Your $100,000 in Wilson has the same purchasing power as $125,313 in the average US city. You'd need $25,313 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 Wilson's cost index of 80, sorted by closest match.
People moving to Wilson usually have at least one specific reason. Most of them line up with what the data shows: a genuinely affordable place to land, clean air, by the numbers, plus 1 more things worth knowing. Here's what's actually on the table.
Cost of living lands at 80 on the composite index — about 20% under the US average. That's the kind of gap that shows up in the savings rate, not just the rent check. Median rent in town runs about $864/mo against a typical household income of $46,891, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
Wilson's air quality index averages about 39 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
The average one-way commute in Wilson 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.
Reasons are pulled from Wilson'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.
Snow is a regular feature, not a surprise. With winter temperatures hovering near 33°F, Wilson sees enough snowfall that locals don't think twice about it but also enough mild stretches that nobody owns three pairs of boots.
Cold but workable. Winter in Wilson averages about 33°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 Wilson runs about 89°F on average, with afternoons in the 90s and humidity that varies by region. AC is standard rather than optional.
Zone 8, give or take a half-zone. Wilson's typical winter low puts it in that band on the USDA Hardiness map, which is what nurseries label plants against. Use Zone 8 as your starting filter; the USDA's interactive map is more precise for borderline cases.
Wilson sits at about 167 feet (51 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Atlantic basin storms can form from June 1 to November 30, but the serious ones cluster in August, September, and the first half of October. Residents of Wilson learn the season's rhythm fast: watch the cone, board up when it's the call, and don't shrug off the slow-mover storms — those are usually the ones that flood.
Average for an American city. Wilson's reported crime rate of about 3,014 per 100,000 residents sits roughly in line with the US baseline of ~3,500. Like anywhere else, the citywide number masks real differences between neighborhoods — worth looking at specific areas before deciding.
No — your dollar actually goes further here. Wilson's composite cost-of-living index is 80, roughly 20% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Not really — Wilson is built around the car. Its Walk Score of 19 out of 100 means almost every errand is a drive. Living without a car is technically possible but real work; most residents wouldn't try it.
Roughly $55,860 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 Wilson runs about $864/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.