Waynesville, North Carolina Cost Of Living

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C+

Overall 6%

Goods & Services 2%

Housing 16%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2019 and was released from C2ER in January, 2020; this is the most current data available.

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	Waynesville	North Carolina	National
Cost of living	94	95	100
Goods & Services	98	101	100
Groceries	94	98	100
Health care	116	108	100
Housing	84	85	100
Transportation	97	94	100
Utilities	101	98	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Waynesville is 1% lower than the North Carolina average
The cost of living in Waynesville is 6% lower than the national average
Waynesville housing is 16% lower than the national average
North Carolina general sales tax is 7% lower than the national average
North Carolina state income tax is 113% 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	$43,354	$3,613	$1,012	$1,301
Renters	$26,797	$2,233	$625	$804

The affordability of the housing market in Waynesville, NC as well as the overall cost of living can be predicted by what percent of the monthly income is spent on housing related costs. This is konwn as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The overall rule of thumb is that no more than 28% of your gross income should be spent on the overall costs related to housing and no more than 36% of gross income on all expenses and debts. Among Waynesville homeowners, the median income is $43,354. This indicates that a monthly maximum of $1,012 should be spent by homeowners on all housing related costs. Renters have a median income of $26,797. This indicates that renters would have a maximum of $625 for their rent related monthly costs.

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	5.25%	5.25%

Goods & Services

Item	Waynesville	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$25.00	$17.49	42.9%
Beauty Salon	$45.00	$38.17	17.9%
Toothpaste	$2.18	$2.32	6.1%
Shampoo	$0.98	$1.01	3.2%
Movie	$11.89	$10.72	10.9%
Bowling	$15.00	$13.86	8.2%

Groceries

Item	Waynesville	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$3.88	$3.90	0.5%
Fried Chicken	$0.92	$1.40	34.1%
Milk	$1.86	$1.96	5.2%
Potatoes	$3.25	$3.18	2.1%
Pizza	$9.99	$10.39	3.9%
Beer	$9.48	$9.23	2.7%

Health Care

Item	Waynesville	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$118.99	$106.34	11.9%
Doctor	$112.86	$115.25	2.1%
Dentist	$135.00	$98.38	37.2%
Ibuprofen	$9.81	$9.26	5.9%
Lipitor	$498.93	$466.47	7.0%

Housing

Item	Waynesville	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$159,900.00	$184,700.00	13.4%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,422.63	$1,273.32	11.7%
Apartment Rent	$725.00	$949.00	23.6%

Transportation

Item	Waynesville	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.56	$2.59	1.4%
Tire Balancing	$47.99	$48.90	1.9%

Utilities

Item	Waynesville	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$172.66	$167.60	3.0%
Phone	$177.09	$163.42	8.4%

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, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Canton, NC	4,182	90	-10%
West Canton, NC	1,390	91	-9%
Sylva, NC	2,599	92	-8%
Clyde, NC	1,226	92	-8%
Cullowhee, NC	5,556	97	-3%
Waynesville, NC	9,788	94	-6%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Wapakoneta, OH	9,786	87	-13%
Valley Center, CA	9,783	146	46%
Marina del Rey, CA	9,782	160	60%
Elon, NC	9,781	107	7%
Coffeyville, KS	9,796	76	-24%
Waynesville, NC	9,788	94	-6%

Source: The Waynesville, NC cost of living data displayed above is derived from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) for 2019.