Overall
- Asheville
- 96.5
Diff -3.5 RPP
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton vs Asheville
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Asheville is 3.5% less expensive than Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton.
3.5% less expensive
Asheville, NC is 3.5% less expensive than Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.5 vs 100.0). A $100,000 salary in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton buys about the same as $96,537 in Asheville; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 100.0 (Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton) vs 96.5 (Asheville)
- $100k in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton ≈ $96,537 purchasing power in Asheville
- Services drives the gap (-19.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair PA:NC 100.0→96.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE PA × NC
- 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.
Asheville, NC is 3.5% less expensive than Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.5-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Asheville 19.0 points lower than Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton. 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 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton to $96,537 in Asheville, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton and Asheville share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 6.7 to 3.5 RPP points. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 9.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (28.2 to 19.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton RPP | Asheville RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 101.1 | 94.4 | 6.7 points Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton higher |
| 2012 | 99.9 | 95.1 | 4.8 points Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton higher |
| 2016 | 101.1 | 96.5 | 4.6 points Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton higher |
| 2020 | 99.7 | 94.1 | 5.6 points Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton higher |
| 2024 | 100.0 | 96.5 | 3.5 points Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Asheville
- 96.6
Diff -3.9 RPP
Services
- Asheville
- 88.6
Diff -19.0 RPP
Rents
- Asheville
- 93.4
Diff -12.1 RPP
| Category | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton | Asheville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 100.0 | 96.5 | -3.5 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 96.6 | -3.9 |
| Services | 107.6 | 88.6 | -19.0 |
| Rents | 105.5 | 93.4 | -12.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 100.0
Asheville 96.5
Goods
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 100.6
Asheville 96.6
Services
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 107.6
Asheville 88.6
Rents
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 105.5
Asheville 93.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton would need to be in Asheville for the same purchasing power:
| In Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton | In Asheville | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,268 | $-1,732 |
| $75,000 | $72,403 | $-2,597 |
| $100,000 | $96,537 | $-3,463 |
| $150,000 | $144,805 | $-5,195 |
$ in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton = in Asheville
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (100.0 → 96.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton
100.0
Cost Index
Asheville
96.5
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Asheville more expensive than Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton?
Asheville is 3.5% less expensive than Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton. The overall cost index is 96.5 vs 100.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Asheville equals $100K in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton?
A $100,000 salary in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton has the same purchasing power as $96,537 in Asheville. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton and Asheville?
Rents in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton are indexed at 105.5 while Asheville is at 93.4 (national average = 100). Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 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.