Overall
- Albuquerque
- 95.5
Diff 0.0 RPP
Albuquerque vs Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood is 0% equally expensive than Albuquerque.
0% equally expensive
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI is 0% equally expensive than Albuquerque, NM on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 95.5 vs 95.5). A $100,000 salary in Albuquerque buys about the same as $100,000 in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 95.5 (Albuquerque) vs 95.5 (Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood)
- $100k in Albuquerque ≈ $100,000 purchasing power in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood
- Services drives the gap (+15.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NM:MI 95.5→95.5
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NM × MI
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood
95.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Albuquerque, NM and Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI 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 leads the difference, with Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 15.9 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.
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 $100,000 in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Albuquerque
- 96.1
Diff -2.4 RPP
Services
- Albuquerque
- 77.9
Diff +15.9 RPP
Rents
- Albuquerque
- 89.2
Diff -2.6 RPP
| Category | Albuquerque | Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 95.5 | 95.5 | 0.0 |
| Goods | 96.1 | 93.7 | -2.4 |
| Services | 77.9 | 93.8 | +15.9 |
| Rents | 89.2 | 86.6 | -2.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Albuquerque 95.5
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 95.5
Goods
Albuquerque 96.1
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 93.7
Services
Albuquerque 77.9
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 93.8
Rents
Albuquerque 89.2
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 86.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Albuquerque would need to be in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood for the same purchasing power:
| In Albuquerque | In Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,000 | $0 |
| $75,000 | $75,000 | $0 |
| $100,000 | $100,000 | $0 |
| $150,000 | $150,000 | $0 |
$ in Albuquerque = in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (95.5 → 95.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Reverse: Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood → Albuquerque Albuquerque Details
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood Details
Also Compare
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood more expensive than Albuquerque?
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood is 0% equally expensive than Albuquerque. The overall cost index is 95.5 vs 95.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood equals $100K in Albuquerque?
A $100,000 salary in Albuquerque has the same purchasing power as $100,000 in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Albuquerque and Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood?
Rents in Albuquerque are indexed at 89.2 while Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood is at 86.6 (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.