Overall
- Fairbanks-College
- 103.2
Diff +3.6 RPP
Albany-Schenectady-Troy vs Fairbanks-College
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Fairbanks-College is 3.7% more expensive than Albany-Schenectady-Troy.
3.7% more expensive
Fairbanks-College, AK is 3.7% more expensive than Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.2 vs 99.6). A $100,000 salary in Albany-Schenectady-Troy buys about the same as $103,658 in Fairbanks-College; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 99.6 (Albany-Schenectady-Troy) vs 103.2 (Fairbanks-College)
- $100k in Albany-Schenectady-Troy ≈ $103,658 purchasing power in Fairbanks-College
- Services drives the gap (-14.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NY:AK 99.6→103.2
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NY × AK
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Fairbanks-College
- 107.3
Diff +7.6 RPP
Services
- Albany-Schenectady-Troy
- 134.0
- Fairbanks-College
- 119.8
Diff -14.3 RPP
Rents
- Albany-Schenectady-Troy
- 102.6
- Fairbanks-College
- 92.6
Diff -10.0 RPP
| Category | Albany-Schenectady-Troy | Fairbanks-College | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 99.6 | 103.2 | +3.6 |
| Goods | 99.7 | 107.3 | +7.6 |
| Services | 134.0 | 119.8 | -14.3 |
| Rents | 102.6 | 92.6 | -10.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Albany-Schenectady-Troy 99.6
Fairbanks-College 103.2
Goods
Albany-Schenectady-Troy 99.7
Fairbanks-College 107.3
Services
Albany-Schenectady-Troy 134.0
Fairbanks-College 119.8
Rents
Albany-Schenectady-Troy 102.6
Fairbanks-College 92.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Fairbanks-College is 14.3 points lower. But services and rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Fairbanks-College, AK is 3.7% more expensive than Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.6-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Fairbanks-College is above 100 while Albany-Schenectady-Troy is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Albany-Schenectady-Troy to $103,658 in Fairbanks-College, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Albany-Schenectady-Troy
99.6
Cost Index
Fairbanks-College
103.2
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Albany-Schenectady-Troy would need to be in Fairbanks-College for the same purchasing power:
| In Albany-Schenectady-Troy | In Fairbanks-College | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,829 | +$1,829 |
| $75,000 | $77,743 | +$2,743 |
| $100,000 | $103,658 | +$3,658 |
| $150,000 | $155,487 | +$5,487 |
$ in Albany-Schenectady-Troy = in Fairbanks-College
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (99.6 → 103.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fairbanks-College more expensive than Albany-Schenectady-Troy?
Fairbanks-College is 3.7% more expensive than Albany-Schenectady-Troy. The overall cost index is 103.2 vs 99.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Fairbanks-College equals $100K in Albany-Schenectady-Troy?
A $100,000 salary in Albany-Schenectady-Troy has the same purchasing power as $103,658 in Fairbanks-College. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Albany-Schenectady-Troy and Fairbanks-College?
Rents in Albany-Schenectady-Troy are indexed at 102.6 while Fairbanks-College is at 92.6 (national average = 100). Albany-Schenectady-Troy 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.