Virginia vs North Carolina

Household income

Currently in

Moving to

Your $100,000 in Virginia is worth

$98,912

at national prices · RPP 101.1BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

The same income 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

Your income goes +$7,133 further in North Carolina (+7.2% purchasing power).

Show the math

adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)

Virginia: $100,000 ÷ (101.1 ÷ 100) = $98,912

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

difference: $106,045 − $98,912 = +$7,133

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	Virginia	North Carolina	Difference
All items	101.1	94.3	−6.7%
Housing rents	106.8	81.4	−23.8%
Goods	100.4	96.6	−3.8%
Utilities	92.2	88.6	−3.9%
Other services	100.2	98.2	−2.0%

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.

VirginiaMedian rent$1,579/moMedian home$383,700

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

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	Virginia	North Carolina
Income tax (top rate)	5.75%	3.99%
Sales tax (combined avg)	5.77%	7.00%

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 →

Virginia vs North Carolina: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from Virginia to North Carolina and its purchasing power changes from $98,912 to $106,045 in national-average terms — a gain of $7,133. North Carolina is the cheaper of the two, running at 94.3 on the price index versus 101.1.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is housing rents: Virginia sits at 106.8 and North Carolina at 81.4 (100 = national). North Carolina has the edge there, and it's the main reason the two states diverge.

Housing

Median rent runs $1,579 in Virginia against $1,228 in North Carolina, and the typical home $383,700 versus $288,900. North Carolina is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, Virginia has 5.75% top income tax and a combined sales tax of 5.77%; North Carolina has 3.99% top income tax and 7.00%. Weigh both against the purchasing-power figure above.

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

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