NVMe SSD vs HDD Price Per TB: $200 vs $52
SSD vs HDD price per TB showed a stark July 13 benchmark: one terabyte of internal hard-drive capacity averaged about $52, while the same normalized capacity on NVMe storage averaged just over $200 across 12 cities.
That $148-per-terabyte difference is a useful benchmark for anyone pricing storage capacity. NVMe was higher in all 12 cities, while speed, endurance, compatibility, and workload remain separate performance dimensions.
The comparison normalizes both categories to one terabyte, making capacity costs directly comparable while keeping drive performance and model specifications distinct.
Every city showed at least a $144 difference
The NVMe SSD price per TB ranged from $198.12 in Seattle’s Rainier Valley to $204.39 in Los Angeles’s Mid-City. That was a narrow $6.27 range around the $200.32 average.
The internal hard-drive price per TB ran from $50.73 in South Philadelphia to $54.07 in Seattle’s Rainier Valley. Its full city range was $3.34.
The two ranges never came close to touching. The lowest NVMe value was still $144.05 above the highest HDD value, and the largest city-by-city difference reached $151.87 in San Jose’s Blossom Valley.
| July 13 measure | Internal HDD | NVMe SSD |
|---|---|---|
| 12-city average | $51.96 | $200.32 |
| Lowest city | $50.73 | $198.12 |
| Highest city | $54.07 | $204.39 |
| City range | $3.34 | $6.27 |
Across the 12 cities, prices within each category differed by a few dollars.
Sticker prices can hide the cost of capacity
Drive sticker prices can hide the capacity question. A larger drive may cost more in total while costing less for each terabyte it provides. Converting both categories to the same one-terabyte unit removes that mismatch.
On July 13, the NVMe average was 3.86 times the HDD average. Put another way, internal hard-drive capacity cost about 26% as much per terabyte in this comparison.
The NVMe series and hard-drive series use the same per-terabyte unit for future date comparisons.
Price per terabyte isolates capacity cost
The comparison isolates normalized storage capacity cost across the 12 cities.
Speed, endurance, reliability, power use, physical size, interface support, warranty terms, and workload describe other parts of a drive’s value. Price per terabyte complements those performance and compatibility measures with a capacity-cost benchmark.
Future updates will show how the ratio moves
July 13 establishes the starting benchmark. Future dates will show whether the ratio narrows as the NVMe figure falls relative to HDD capacity or the HDD figure rises faster.
CostInflation’s NVMe SSD price per TB and internal hard-drive price per TB pages will extend the ratio as new dates appear. The broader CostInflation indices link those storage benchmarks with other category histories.