Austin, TX vs Wilmington, NC
Moving from Austin to Wilmington? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($428,524 → $446,210 median home) and taxes.
Austin vs Wilmington at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Austin, TX, you'd need about $97,116 in Wilmington, NC (−$2,884).
Livability — Austin, TX: 70 · Wilmington, NC: 65 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,450 sqft in Austin vs 2,241 sqft in Wilmington ($204 vs $223 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Austin, TX | Wilmington, NC | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,620 | $20,496 | +$876 |
| Groceries | $4,647 | $4,840 | +$193 |
| Transportation | $3,675 | $3,130 | −$545 |
| Utilities | $1,836 | $1,752 | −$84 |
| Insurance | $3,600 | $2,000 | −$1,600 |
| Taxes | $9,558 | $8,640 | −$918 |
| Total | $42,936 | $40,858 | −$2,078 |
Side by side
| Metric | Austin, TX | Wilmington, NC |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.3 | 95.4 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.30% | 5.08% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 14.8% | 4.4% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.59 | $5.43 |
| Median home price | $428,524 | $446,210 |
| Home price ÷ income | 4.6× | 6.5× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -6.0% | -0.7% |
| Price per square foot | $204 | $223 |
| Median rent | $1,635 | $1,708 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 8.6% | 9.9% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.20% | 6.98% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 4.25% |
| Property tax rate | 1.71% | 0.64% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,500 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 1.10% |
| Avg commute (min) | 27 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $3,600 | $2,000 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,100 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $900 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 17.0 | 16.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.00 | 3.20 |
| Natural gas / mo | $52 | $62 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $134 | $78 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $80 |
| Violent crime /100k | 430 | 400 |
| Avg summer high °F | 96 | 89 |
| Avg winter low °F | 38 | 30 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 36.3 | 46.1 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.2 | 5.2 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 60% | 58% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 3 |