Overall
- Albuquerque
- 95.5
Diff +4.5 RPP
Albuquerque vs Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell is 4.7% more expensive than Albuquerque.
4.7% more expensive
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA is 4.7% more expensive than Albuquerque, NM on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.1 vs 95.5). A $100,000 salary in Albuquerque buys about the same as $104,722 in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 95.5 (Albuquerque) vs 100.1 (Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell)
- $100k in Albuquerque ≈ $104,722 purchasing power in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
- Rents drives the gap (+21.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NM:GA 95.5→100.1
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NM × GA
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Albuquerque would need to be in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell for the same purchasing power:
| In Albuquerque | In Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,361 | +$2,361 |
| $75,000 | $78,542 | +$3,542 |
| $100,000 | $104,722 | +$4,722 |
| $150,000 | $157,083 | +$7,083 |
$ in Albuquerque = in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (95.5 → 100.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA is 4.7% more expensive than Albuquerque, NM, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.5-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell is above 100 while Albuquerque is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 21.9 points higher than Albuquerque. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Albuquerque corresponds to $104,722 in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Albuquerque
- 96.1
Diff +4.3 RPP
Services
- Albuquerque
- 77.9
Diff +18.4 RPP
Rents
- Albuquerque
- 89.2
Diff +21.9 RPP
| Category | Albuquerque | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 95.5 | 100.1 | +4.5 |
| Goods | 96.1 | 100.4 | +4.3 |
| Services | 77.9 | 96.2 | +18.4 |
| Rents | 89.2 | 111.0 | +21.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Albuquerque 95.5
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 100.1
Goods
Albuquerque 96.1
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 100.4
Services
Albuquerque 77.9
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 96.2
Rents
Albuquerque 89.2
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 111.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Albuquerque
95.5
Cost Index
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
100.1
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Albuquerque and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 1.1 to 4.5 RPP points. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 16.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (5.1 to 21.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Albuquerque RPP | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.0 | 98.1 | 1.1 points Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell higher |
| 2012 | 99.6 | 99.2 | 0.4 points Albuquerque higher |
| 2016 | 96.6 | 98.4 | 1.8 points Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell higher |
| 2020 | 94.2 | 98.7 | 4.6 points Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell higher |
| 2024 | 95.5 | 100.1 | 4.5 points Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell more expensive than Albuquerque?
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell is 4.7% more expensive than Albuquerque. The overall cost index is 100.1 vs 95.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell equals $100K in Albuquerque?
A $100,000 salary in Albuquerque has the same purchasing power as $104,722 in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Albuquerque and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell?
Rents in Albuquerque are indexed at 89.2 while Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell is at 111.0 (national average = 100). Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 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.