Little Rock, AR vs Charlotte, NC
Moving from Little Rock to Charlotte? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($231,039 → $390,321 median home) and taxes.
Little Rock vs Charlotte 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 Little Rock, AR, you'd need about $108,729 in Charlotte, NC (+$8,729).
Livability — Little Rock, AR: 69 · Charlotte, NC: 66 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 4,329 sqft in Little Rock vs 2,561 sqft in Charlotte ($116 vs $195 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Little Rock, AR | Charlotte, NC | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $14,952 | $20,880 | +$5,928 |
| Groceries | $4,655 | $4,834 | +$179 |
| Transportation | $3,405 | $3,130 | −$275 |
| Utilities | $1,524 | $1,752 | +$228 |
| Insurance | $2,800 | $2,000 | −$800 |
| Taxes | $8,521 | $8,740 | +$220 |
| Total | $35,856 | $41,336 | +$5,480 |
Side by side
| Metric | Little Rock, AR | Charlotte, NC |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 89.5 | 97.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.56% | 4.71% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 2.6% | 10.0% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.09 | $5.54 |
| Median home price | $231,039 | $390,321 |
| Home price ÷ income | 3.7× | 5.1× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.5% | -0.4% |
| Price per square foot | $116 | $195 |
| Median rent | $1,246 | $1,740 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.2% | 9.9% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.47% | 6.98% |
| Capital gains tax | 3.90% | 4.25% |
| Property tax rate | 0.70% | 0.72% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,000 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $7,500 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 1.02% | 1.10% |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,800 | $2,000 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,900 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $350 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.2 | 16.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 2.95 | 3.20 |
| Natural gas / mo | $62 | $62 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $62 | $78 |
| Home internet / mo | $78 | $80 |
| Violent crime /100k | 640 | 400 |
| Avg summer high °F | 93 | 89 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 30 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 49.0 | 43.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 8.0 | 3.5 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 60% | 62% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 3 |