Overall
Diff +1.5 RPP
Albany vs Bend
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Bend is 1.5% more expensive than Albany.
1.5% more expensive
Bend, OR is 1.5% more expensive than Albany, OR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 102.1). A $100,000 salary in Albany buys about the same as $101,476 in Bend; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 102.1 (Albany) vs 103.6 (Bend)
- $100k in Albany ≈ $101,476 purchasing power in Bend
- Rents drives the gap (+8.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair OR:OR 102.1→103.6
PHOTO-FINISH · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- SAME-STATE Same state · OR
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 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.
Albany
102.1
Cost Index
Bend
103.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Albany, OR and Bend, OR are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Bend is 8.9 points higher. 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 exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Albany corresponds to $101,476 in Bend.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
Diff +0.2 RPP
Rents
Diff +8.9 RPP
| Category | Albany | Bend | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 102.1 | 103.6 | +1.5 |
| Goods | 105.3 | 105.3 | 0.0 |
| Services | 104.8 | 105.0 | +0.2 |
| Rents | 101.1 | 110.0 | +8.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Albany 102.1
Bend 103.6
Goods
Albany 105.3
Bend 105.3
Services
Albany 104.8
Bend 105.0
Rents
Albany 101.1
Bend 110.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Albany and Bend share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 0.4 to 1.5 RPP points. Bend remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 5.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (3.2 to 8.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Albany RPP | Bend RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.3 | 99.8 | 0.4 points Bend higher |
| 2012 | 96.6 | 95.8 | 0.8 points Albany higher |
| 2016 | 98.9 | 99.0 | 0.1 points Bend higher |
| 2020 | 102.7 | 102.9 | 0.2 points Bend higher |
| 2024 | 102.1 | 103.6 | 1.5 points Bend 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 Albany would need to be in Bend for the same purchasing power:
| In Albany | In Bend | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,738 | +$738 |
| $75,000 | $76,107 | +$1,107 |
| $100,000 | $101,476 | +$1,476 |
| $150,000 | $152,214 | +$2,214 |
$ in Albany = in Bend
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (102.1 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bend more expensive than Albany?
Bend is 1.5% more expensive than Albany. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 102.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Bend equals $100K in Albany?
A $100,000 salary in Albany has the same purchasing power as $101,476 in Bend. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Albany and Bend?
Rents in Albany are indexed at 101.1 while Bend is at 110.0 (national average = 100). Bend 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.