Overall
- Albuquerque
- 95.5
- Cincinnati
- 95.4
Diff -0.2 RPP
Albuquerque vs Cincinnati
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Cincinnati is 0.2% less expensive than Albuquerque.
0.2% less expensive
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN is 0.2% less expensive than Albuquerque, NM on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 95.4 vs 95.5). A $100,000 salary in Albuquerque buys about the same as $99,816 in Cincinnati; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 95.5 (Albuquerque) vs 95.4 (Cincinnati)
- $100k in Albuquerque ≈ $99,816 purchasing power in Cincinnati
- Services drives the gap (+13.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NM:OH 95.5→95.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NM × OH
- 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.
Albuquerque
95.5
Cost Index
Cincinnati
95.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Albuquerque, NM and Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Cincinnati is 13.1 points higher. But services 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 Albuquerque to $99,816 in Cincinnati, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Albuquerque
- 96.1
- Cincinnati
- 93.8
Diff -2.4 RPP
Services
- Albuquerque
- 77.9
- Cincinnati
- 91.0
Diff +13.1 RPP
Rents
- Albuquerque
- 89.2
- Cincinnati
- 87.6
Diff -1.5 RPP
| Category | Albuquerque | Cincinnati | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 95.5 | 95.4 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 96.1 | 93.8 | -2.4 |
| Services | 77.9 | 91.0 | +13.1 |
| Rents | 89.2 | 87.6 | -1.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Albuquerque 95.5
Cincinnati 95.4
Goods
Albuquerque 96.1
Cincinnati 93.8
Services
Albuquerque 77.9
Cincinnati 91.0
Rents
Albuquerque 89.2
Cincinnati 87.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Albuquerque and Cincinnati share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.1 to 0.2 RPP points. Albuquerque remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 10.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (2.5 to 13.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Albuquerque RPP | Cincinnati RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.0 | 97.1 | 0.1 points Cincinnati higher |
| 2012 | 99.6 | 93.4 | 6.2 points Albuquerque higher |
| 2016 | 96.6 | 93.7 | 3.0 points Albuquerque higher |
| 2020 | 94.2 | 93.9 | 0.3 points Albuquerque higher |
| 2024 | 95.5 | 95.4 | 0.2 points Albuquerque 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 Albuquerque would need to be in Cincinnati for the same purchasing power:
| In Albuquerque | In Cincinnati | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,908 | $-92 |
| $75,000 | $74,862 | $-138 |
| $100,000 | $99,816 | $-184 |
| $150,000 | $149,724 | $-276 |
$ in Albuquerque = in Cincinnati
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (95.5 → 95.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cincinnati more expensive than Albuquerque?
Cincinnati is 0.2% less expensive than Albuquerque. The overall cost index is 95.4 vs 95.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Cincinnati equals $100K in Albuquerque?
A $100,000 salary in Albuquerque has the same purchasing power as $99,816 in Cincinnati. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Albuquerque and Cincinnati?
Rents in Albuquerque are indexed at 89.2 while Cincinnati is at 87.6 (national average = 100). Albuquerque 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.