Overall
- Altoona
- 89.5
Diff +9.3 RPP
Altoona vs Atlantic City-Hammonton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Atlantic City-Hammonton is 10.4% more expensive than Altoona.
10.4% more expensive
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ is 10.4% more expensive than Altoona, PA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.9 vs 89.5). A $100,000 salary in Altoona buys about the same as $110,446 in Atlantic City-Hammonton; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 89.5 (Altoona) vs 98.9 (Atlantic City-Hammonton)
- $100k in Altoona ≈ $110,446 purchasing power in Atlantic City-Hammonton
- Rents drives the gap (+43.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair PA:NJ 89.5→98.9
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE PA × NJ
- 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
- Altoona
- 100.7
Diff -0.9 RPP
Services
- Altoona
- 107.7
- Atlantic City-Hammonton
- 109.2
Diff +1.5 RPP
Rents
- Altoona
- 55.0
Diff +43.7 RPP
| Category | Altoona | Atlantic City-Hammonton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 89.5 | 98.9 | +9.3 |
| Goods | 100.7 | 99.8 | -0.9 |
| Services | 107.7 | 109.2 | +1.5 |
| Rents | 55.0 | 98.7 | +43.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Altoona 89.5
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.9
Goods
Altoona 100.7
Atlantic City-Hammonton 99.8
Services
Altoona 107.7
Atlantic City-Hammonton 109.2
Rents
Altoona 55.0
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Atlantic City-Hammonton is 43.7 points higher. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Altoona, PA and Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 9.3 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
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 Altoona corresponds to $110,446 in Atlantic City-Hammonton.
Altoona
89.5
Cost Index
Atlantic City-Hammonton
98.9
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Altoona would need to be in Atlantic City-Hammonton for the same purchasing power:
| In Altoona | In Atlantic City-Hammonton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $55,223 | +$5,223 |
| $75,000 | $82,835 | +$7,835 |
| $100,000 | $110,446 | +$10,446 |
| $150,000 | $165,669 | +$15,669 |
$ in Altoona = in Atlantic City-Hammonton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (89.5 → 98.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Altoona and Atlantic City-Hammonton share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 16.8 to 9.3 RPP points. Atlantic City-Hammonton remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 28.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (72.0 to 43.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Altoona RPP | Atlantic City-Hammonton RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 93.9 | 110.7 | 16.8 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2012 | 92.3 | 104.6 | 12.3 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2016 | 91.5 | 102.6 | 11.1 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2020 | 89.7 | 101.2 | 11.4 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2024 | 89.5 | 98.9 | 9.3 points Atlantic City-Hammonton 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 Atlantic City-Hammonton more expensive than Altoona?
Atlantic City-Hammonton is 10.4% more expensive than Altoona. The overall cost index is 98.9 vs 89.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton equals $100K in Altoona?
A $100,000 salary in Altoona has the same purchasing power as $110,446 in Atlantic City-Hammonton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Altoona and Atlantic City-Hammonton?
Rents in Altoona are indexed at 55.0 while Atlantic City-Hammonton is at 98.7 (national average = 100). Atlantic City-Hammonton 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.