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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Durham to Minneapolis

Durham, NC vs Minneapolis, MN

Simple answer

You'd likely save $11 a month in Minneapolis.

This is the HUD 2-bedroom fair-market rent for October 2026 through September 2027. It is not your lease.

The largest cost gap in this pair is housing prices. The BEA housing price parity differs by 12.9 points (Durham 98.9, Minneapolis 111.8).

North Carolina taxes wages at a flat 3.99%. Minnesota taxes wages at rates up to 9.85%. Combined sales tax differs by 1.1 percentage points, higher in Minnesota. The effective property tax gap is 0.40 percentage points, higher in Minnesota.

After a move from North Carolina to Minnesota, those two example households keep the same benefit status labels. A different income can still split Medicaid and marketplace credits.

A $75,000 salary in Durham lines up with about $80,573 in Minneapolis on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Durham

Durham-Chapel Hill, NC

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,745
HUD area
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,598
All-items price parity
97.6
Goods price parity
96.6
Utilities price parity
89.3
Mean commute
24.4 min
Median household income
$83,542

Minneapolis

Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,734
HUD area
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,444
All-items price parity
104.8
Goods price parity
103.1
Utilities price parity
93.5
Mean commute
24.1 min
Median household income
$97,928

Equivalent salary

The first number keeps the same place in the national price level. The second also runs 2026 federal income tax, employee Social Security and Medicare, and a simplified state income tax. Groceries use the BEA goods price parity, not a grocery receipt.

Same buying power

$80,573

Salary in Minneapolis that matches the 2024 all-items regional price parity.

After state and federal tax

$83,631

Gross salary in Minneapolis whose after-tax pay buys the same basket, using price parities.

Rent only

$74,527

Scales the salary by the ratio of HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rents. Rent is not the whole budget.

Taxes on the two sides of the move

TaxNorth CarolinaMinnesota
State income tax on wages3.99% flatup to 9.85%
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20267.0%8.1%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.61%1.02%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $2,455 a year in North Carolina and $4,064 in Minnesota. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Minnesota

Same household, $40,000 a year, scored once in North Carolina and once in Minnesota. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    DurhamLikely eligible

    MinneapolisLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    DurhamLikely eligible

    MinneapolisLikely eligible

  • WIC

    DurhamLikely eligible

    MinneapolisLikely eligible

  • School meals

    DurhamLikely eligible

    MinneapolisLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    DurhamMaybe

    MinneapolisMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    DurhamLikely eligible

    MinneapolisLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    DurhamLikely eligible

    MinneapolisLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    DurhamUnlikely

    MinneapolisUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    DurhamLikely eligible

    MinneapolisLikely eligible

  • SSI

    DurhamUnlikely

    MinneapolisUnlikely

At $40,000 the status labels match. A single adult around $18,000 is where Medicaid expansion and the marketplace coverage gap usually split.

Medicaid guide for Minnesota · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Durham

The eight largest 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gaps from Durham.

Nearby metros

How the salary and tax math works · The reverse city order redirects to this address.