Overall
- Bangor
- 96.5
Diff -3.5 RPP
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton vs Bangor
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Bangor is 3.5% less expensive than Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton.
3.5% less expensive
Bangor, ME 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 $96,539 in Bangor; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 100.0 (Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton) vs 96.5 (Bangor)
- $100k in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton ≈ $96,539 purchasing power in Bangor
- Rents drives the gap (-27.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair PA:ME 100.0→96.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE PA × ME
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Bangor
- 97.2
Diff -3.4 RPP
Services
- Bangor
- 134.8
Diff +27.2 RPP
Rents
- Bangor
- 77.7
Diff -27.8 RPP
| Category | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton | Bangor | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 100.0 | 96.5 | -3.5 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 97.2 | -3.4 |
| Services | 107.6 | 134.8 | +27.2 |
| Rents | 105.5 | 77.7 | -27.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 100.0
Bangor 96.5
Goods
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 100.6
Bangor 97.2
Services
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 107.6
Bangor 134.8
Rents
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 105.5
Bangor 77.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Bangor is 27.8 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Bangor, ME 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.
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.
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 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton corresponds to $96,539 in Bangor.
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton
100.0
Cost Index
Bangor
96.5
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton would need to be in Bangor for the same purchasing power:
| In Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton | In Bangor | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,269 | $-1,731 |
| $75,000 | $72,404 | $-2,596 |
| $100,000 | $96,539 | $-3,461 |
| $150,000 | $144,808 | $-5,192 |
$ in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton = in Bangor
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (100.0 → 96.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton and Bangor share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 7.1 to 3.5 RPP points. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 9.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (37.1 to 27.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton RPP | Bangor RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 101.1 | 93.9 | 7.1 points Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton higher |
| 2012 | 99.9 | 96.3 | 3.6 points Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton higher |
| 2016 | 101.1 | 93.4 | 7.7 points Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton higher |
| 2020 | 99.7 | 97.5 | 2.2 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bangor more expensive than Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton?
Bangor 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 Bangor equals $100K in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton?
A $100,000 salary in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton has the same purchasing power as $96,539 in Bangor. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton and Bangor?
Rents in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton are indexed at 105.5 while Bangor is at 77.7 (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.