North Carolina vs South Carolina

Household income

Currently in

Moving to

Your $100,000 in North Carolina is worth

$106,045

at national prices · RPP 94.3BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

The same income in South Carolina is worth

$106,724

at national prices · RPP 93.7BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

Your income goes +$679 further in South Carolina (+0.6% purchasing power).

Show the math

adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)

North Carolina: $100,000 ÷ (94.3 ÷ 100) = $106,045

South Carolina: $100,000 ÷ (93.7 ÷ 100) = $106,724

difference: $106,724 − $106,045 = +$679

Where the difference comes from

Price level by component, 100 = US average. Higher means more expensive.

Regional price parity by component for the two states, with the percentage difference.
Component	North Carolina	South Carolina	Difference
All items	94.3	93.7	−0.6%
Housing rents	81.4	80.5	−1.1%
Goods	96.6	96.3	−0.3%
Utilities	88.6	88.3	−0.3%
Other services	98.2	98.3	+0.1%

BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 · rel. February 2026 · Official API

Housing reality check

Typical rent and home price in each state — tangible context beyond the index.

North CarolinaMedian rent$1,228/moMedian home$288,900

South CarolinaMedian rent$1,180/moMedian home$259,000

US Census ACS 5-Year Estimates · ACS5 · 2024 · rel. December 2025 · Official API

Tax at a glance

Hand-curated, tax year 2026 · verified 2026-07-20

Income and sales tax for the two states.
Tax	North Carolina	South Carolina
Income tax (top rate)	3.99%	6.00%
Sales tax (combined avg)	7.00%	7.49%

Tax Foundation (income & sales) · Tax · 2026 · rel. tax year 2026 · Manually maintained · verified 2026-07-20

Official API Manually maintained2 of 3 metrics sourced from official APIs, 1 manually maintained. How every number is calculated →

North Carolina vs South Carolina: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from North Carolina to South Carolina and its purchasing power changes from $106,045 to $106,724 in national-average terms — a gain of $679. South Carolina is the cheaper of the two, running at 93.7 on the price index versus 94.3.

Housing

Median rent runs $1,228 in North Carolina against $1,180 in South Carolina, and the typical home $288,900 versus $259,000. South Carolina is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, North Carolina has 3.99% top income tax and a combined sales tax of 7.00%; South Carolina has 6.00% top income tax and 7.49%. Weigh both against the purchasing-power figure above.

Full profiles: North Carolina ·South Carolina. Every figure here is sourced on the pages linked above.

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