Overall
- Akron
- 93.4
- Athens-Clarke County
- 93.3
Diff -0.0 RPP
Akron vs Athens-Clarke County
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Athens-Clarke County is 0% less expensive than Akron.
0% less expensive
Athens-Clarke County, GA is 0% less expensive than Akron, OH on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.3 vs 93.4). A $100,000 salary in Akron buys about the same as $99,971 in Athens-Clarke County; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 93.4 (Akron) vs 93.3 (Athens-Clarke County)
- $100k in Akron ≈ $99,971 purchasing power in Athens-Clarke County
- Services drives the gap (-7.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair OH:GA 93.4→93.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE OH × GA
- 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.
Akron
93.4
Cost Index
Athens-Clarke County
93.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Akron, OH and Athens-Clarke County, GA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.0 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Athens-Clarke County is 7.2 points lower. But 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 Akron to $99,971 in Athens-Clarke County, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Akron
- 93.6
- Athens-Clarke County
- 96.3
Diff +2.6 RPP
Services
- Akron
- 96.4
- Athens-Clarke County
- 89.3
Diff -7.2 RPP
Rents
- Akron
- 76.8
- Athens-Clarke County
- 76.8
Diff -0.0 RPP
| Category | Akron | Athens-Clarke County | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.4 | 93.3 | -0.0 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 96.3 | +2.6 |
| Services | 96.4 | 89.3 | -7.2 |
| Rents | 76.8 | 76.8 | -0.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Akron 93.4
Athens-Clarke County 93.3
Goods
Akron 93.6
Athens-Clarke County 96.3
Services
Akron 96.4
Athens-Clarke County 89.3
Rents
Akron 76.8
Athens-Clarke County 76.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Akron and Athens-Clarke County share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 1.7 to 0.0 RPP points. Akron remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 13.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (20.6 to 7.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Akron RPP | Athens-Clarke County RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 92.5 | 94.2 | 1.7 points Athens-Clarke County higher |
| 2012 | 95.5 | 93.3 | 2.2 points Akron higher |
| 2016 | 95.2 | 93.7 | 1.4 points Akron higher |
| 2020 | 93.5 | 90.2 | 3.3 points Akron higher |
| 2024 | 93.4 | 93.3 | 0.0 points Akron 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 Akron would need to be in Athens-Clarke County for the same purchasing power:
| In Akron | In Athens-Clarke County | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,986 | $-14 |
| $75,000 | $74,978 | $-22 |
| $100,000 | $99,971 | $-29 |
| $150,000 | $149,957 | $-43 |
$ in Akron = in Athens-Clarke County
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (93.4 → 93.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Athens-Clarke County more expensive than Akron?
Athens-Clarke County is 0% less expensive than Akron. The overall cost index is 93.3 vs 93.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Athens-Clarke County equals $100K in Akron?
A $100,000 salary in Akron has the same purchasing power as $99,971 in Athens-Clarke County. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Akron and Athens-Clarke County?
Rents in Akron are indexed at 76.8 while Athens-Clarke County is at 76.8 (national average = 100). Akron 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.