Overall
- Albuquerque
- 95.5
Diff +2.7 RPP
Albuquerque vs Prescott Valley-Prescott
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Prescott Valley-Prescott is 2.8% more expensive than Albuquerque.
2.8% more expensive
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ is 2.8% more expensive than Albuquerque, NM on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 95.5). A $100,000 salary in Albuquerque buys about the same as $102,835 in Prescott Valley-Prescott; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 95.5 (Albuquerque) vs 98.3 (Prescott Valley-Prescott)
- $100k in Albuquerque ≈ $102,835 purchasing power in Prescott Valley-Prescott
- Services drives the gap (+13.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NM:AZ 95.5→98.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NM × AZ
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ is 2.8% more expensive than Albuquerque, NM, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.7-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Prescott Valley-Prescott 13.6 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 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 $102,835 in Prescott Valley-Prescott, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Albuquerque
- 96.1
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
- Albuquerque
- 77.9
Diff +13.6 RPP
Rents
- Albuquerque
- 89.2
Diff +9.6 RPP
| Category | Albuquerque | Prescott Valley-Prescott | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 95.5 | 98.3 | +2.7 |
| Goods | 96.1 | 96.2 | +0.1 |
| Services | 77.9 | 91.5 | +13.6 |
| Rents | 89.2 | 98.8 | +9.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Albuquerque 95.5
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.3
Goods
Albuquerque 96.1
Prescott Valley-Prescott 96.2
Services
Albuquerque 77.9
Prescott Valley-Prescott 91.5
Rents
Albuquerque 89.2
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Albuquerque would need to be in Prescott Valley-Prescott for the same purchasing power:
| In Albuquerque | In Prescott Valley-Prescott | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,418 | +$1,418 |
| $75,000 | $77,126 | +$2,126 |
| $100,000 | $102,835 | +$2,835 |
| $150,000 | $154,253 | +$4,253 |
$ in Albuquerque = in Prescott Valley-Prescott
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (95.5 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Albuquerque
95.5
Cost Index
Prescott Valley-Prescott
98.3
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Prescott Valley-Prescott more expensive than Albuquerque?
Prescott Valley-Prescott is 2.8% more expensive than Albuquerque. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 95.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott equals $100K in Albuquerque?
A $100,000 salary in Albuquerque has the same purchasing power as $102,835 in Prescott Valley-Prescott. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Albuquerque and Prescott Valley-Prescott?
Rents in Albuquerque are indexed at 89.2 while Prescott Valley-Prescott is at 98.8 (national average = 100). Prescott Valley-Prescott 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.