Overall
Diff -0.1 RPP
Abilene vs Lawrence
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lawrence is 0.1% less expensive than Abilene.
0.1% less expensive
Lawrence, KS is 0.1% less expensive than Abilene, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 90.2 vs 90.4). A $100,000 salary in Abilene buys about the same as $99,866 in Lawrence; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 90.4 (Abilene) vs 90.2 (Lawrence)
- $100k in Abilene ≈ $99,866 purchasing power in Lawrence
- Services drives the gap (+8.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:KS 90.4→90.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × KS
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Abilene
90.4
Cost Index
Lawrence
90.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Abilene, TX and Lawrence, KS are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Lawrence is 8.1 points higher. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Abilene to $99,866 in Lawrence, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +0.3 RPP
Services
Diff +8.1 RPP
Rents
Diff -2.2 RPP
| Category | Abilene | Lawrence | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 90.4 | 90.2 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 94.0 | +0.3 |
| Services | 81.2 | 89.3 | +8.1 |
| Rents | 73.8 | 71.6 | -2.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Abilene 90.4
Lawrence 90.2
Goods
Abilene 93.8
Lawrence 94.0
Services
Abilene 81.2
Lawrence 89.3
Rents
Abilene 73.8
Lawrence 71.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Abilene and Lawrence share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 6.0 to 0.1 RPP points. Abilene remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 24.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (22.7 to 2.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Abilene RPP | Lawrence RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 92.2 | 98.2 | 6.0 points Lawrence higher |
| 2012 | 94.1 | 96.0 | 1.9 points Lawrence higher |
| 2016 | 93.3 | 94.1 | 0.8 points Lawrence higher |
| 2020 | 90.3 | 94.0 | 3.7 points Lawrence higher |
| 2024 | 90.4 | 90.2 | 0.1 points Abilene higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Abilene would need to be in Lawrence for the same purchasing power:
| In Abilene | In Lawrence | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,933 | $-67 |
| $75,000 | $74,900 | $-100 |
| $100,000 | $99,866 | $-134 |
| $150,000 | $149,799 | $-201 |
$ in Abilene = in Lawrence
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (90.4 → 90.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lawrence more expensive than Abilene?
Lawrence is 0.1% less expensive than Abilene. The overall cost index is 90.2 vs 90.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lawrence equals $100K in Abilene?
A $100,000 salary in Abilene has the same purchasing power as $99,866 in Lawrence. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Abilene and Lawrence?
Rents in Abilene are indexed at 73.8 while Lawrence is at 71.6 (national average = 100). Abilene has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.