Overall
- Asheville
- 96.5
Diff +3.5 RPP
Asheville vs Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton is 3.6% more expensive than Asheville.
3.6% more expensive
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ is 3.6% more expensive than Asheville, NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.0 vs 96.5). A $100,000 salary in Asheville buys about the same as $103,587 in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 96.5 (Asheville) vs 100.0 (Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton)
- $100k in Asheville ≈ $103,587 purchasing power in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton
- Services drives the gap (+19.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NC:PA 96.5→100.0
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NC × PA
- 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.
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ is 3.6% more expensive than Asheville, NC, 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 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 19.0 points higher than Asheville. 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 Asheville to $103,587 in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Asheville and Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 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 | Asheville RPP | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.4 | 101.1 | 6.7 points Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton higher |
| 2012 | 95.1 | 99.9 | 4.8 points Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton higher |
| 2016 | 96.5 | 101.1 | 4.6 points Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton higher |
| 2020 | 94.1 | 99.7 | 5.6 points Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton higher |
| 2024 | 96.5 | 100.0 | 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 | Asheville | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 96.5 | 100.0 | +3.5 |
| Goods | 96.6 | 100.6 | +3.9 |
| Services | 88.6 | 107.6 | +19.0 |
| Rents | 93.4 | 105.5 | +12.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Asheville 96.5
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 100.0
Goods
Asheville 96.6
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 100.6
Services
Asheville 88.6
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 107.6
Rents
Asheville 93.4
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 105.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Asheville would need to be in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton for the same purchasing power:
| In Asheville | In Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,794 | +$1,794 |
| $75,000 | $77,691 | +$2,691 |
| $100,000 | $103,587 | +$3,587 |
| $150,000 | $155,381 | +$5,381 |
$ in Asheville = in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (96.5 → 100.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Asheville
96.5
Cost Index
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton
100.0
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton more expensive than Asheville?
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton is 3.6% more expensive than Asheville. The overall cost index is 100.0 vs 96.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton equals $100K in Asheville?
A $100,000 salary in Asheville has the same purchasing power as $103,587 in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Asheville and Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton?
Rents in Asheville are indexed at 93.4 while Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton is at 105.5 (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.