Cost Of Living in Salem, NC

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Salem	North Carolina	National
Cost of living	90	94	100
Goods & Services	100	98	100
Groceries	98	98	100
Health care	110	108	100
Housing	68	85	100
Transportation	92	92	100
Utilities	108	94	100

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Cost Of Living Quick Facts

The cost of living in Salem is 4% lower than the North Carolina average
The cost of living in Salem is 10% lower than the national average
Salem housing is 32% lower than the national average
North Carolina general sales tax is 7% lower than the national average
North Carolina state income tax is 83% higher than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$56,213	$4,684	$1,312	$1,687
Renters	$0	$0	$0	$0

North Carolina Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
North Carolina	4.75%	7.5%

North Carolina Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
North Carolina	4.75%	4.75%

Goods & Services

Item	Salem	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$28.00	$24.26	15.4%
Beauty Salon	$48.22	$45.56	5.8%
Toothpaste	$3.80	$3.70	2.6%
Shampoo	$1.33	$1.28	3.6%
Movie	$13.07	$12.13	7.7%
Bowling	$15.89	$18.00	11.7%

Groceries

Item	Salem	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$6.47	$5.84	10.7%
Fried Chicken	$1.46	$1.57	7.0%
Milk	$4.61	$4.67	1.3%
Potatoes	$5.27	$4.93	6.7%
Pizza	$10.44	$12.09	13.6%
Beer	$10.44	$10.41	0.3%

Health Care

Item	Salem	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$155.11	$125.68	23.4%
Doctor	$166.73	$135.78	22.8%
Dentist	$113.89	$113.29	0.5%
Ibuprofen	$10.57	$10.65	0.7%
Lipitor	$509.86	$468.60	8.8%

Housing

Item	Salem	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$128,800.00	$184,700.00	30.3%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$2,256.40	$2,346.69	3.8%
Apartment Rent	$594.00	$949.00	37.4%

Transportation

Item	Salem	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.29	$3.46	5.0%
Tire Balancing	$49.99	$59.92	16.6%

Utilities

Item	Salem	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$221.84	$193.99	14.4%
Phone	$186.82	$192.25	2.8%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Casar, NC	361	81	18.7%
Icard, NC	2,119	88	12.4%
Gamewell, NC	3,874	88	11.8%
Connelly Springs, NC	2,272	88	12.0%
Lenoir, NC	17,909	85	14.9%
Salem, NC	1,479	90	9.8%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Grand Ronde, OR	1,479	105	4.6%
Calvert, TX	1,479	83	16.5%
Carrizo Hill, TX	1,479	96	4.3%
Strong, ON	1,479	n/a
Akron, IA	1,478	83	17.1%
Salem, NC	1,479	90	9.8%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2023 and was released from C2ER in January, 2024; this is the most current data available.

Cost of Living in Salem, NC