Overall
- Bangor
- 96.5
Diff -3.6 RPP
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell vs Bangor
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Bangor is 3.5% less expensive than Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell.
3.5% less expensive
Bangor, ME is 3.5% less expensive than Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.5 vs 100.1). A $100,000 salary in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell buys about the same as $96,452 in Bangor; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 100.1 (Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell) vs 96.5 (Bangor)
- $100k in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell ≈ $96,452 purchasing power in Bangor
- Services drives the gap (+38.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair GA:ME 100.1→96.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE GA × ME
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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 -3.2 RPP
Services
- Bangor
- 134.8
Diff +38.5 RPP
Rents
- Bangor
- 77.7
Diff -33.3 RPP
| Category | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell | Bangor | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 100.1 | 96.5 | -3.6 |
| Goods | 100.4 | 97.2 | -3.2 |
| Services | 96.2 | 134.8 | +38.5 |
| Rents | 111.0 | 77.7 | -33.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 100.1
Bangor 96.5
Goods
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 100.4
Bangor 97.2
Services
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 96.2
Bangor 134.8
Rents
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 111.0
Bangor 77.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Bangor is 38.5 points higher. 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 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.6-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell is above 100 while Bangor is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell to $96,452 in Bangor, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
100.1
Cost Index
Bangor
96.5
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell would need to be in Bangor for the same purchasing power:
| In Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell | In Bangor | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,226 | $-1,774 |
| $75,000 | $72,339 | $-2,661 |
| $100,000 | $96,452 | $-3,548 |
| $150,000 | $144,678 | $-5,322 |
$ in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell = in Bangor
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (100.1 → 96.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell and Bangor share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 4.2 to 3.6 RPP points. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 9.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (6.2 to 3.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell RPP | Bangor RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.1 | 93.9 | 4.2 points Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell higher |
| 2012 | 99.2 | 96.3 | 2.8 points Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell higher |
| 2016 | 98.4 | 93.4 | 5.1 points Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell higher |
| 2020 | 98.7 | 97.5 | 1.2 points Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell higher |
| 2024 | 100.1 | 96.5 | 3.6 points Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 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 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell?
Bangor is 3.5% less expensive than Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell. The overall cost index is 96.5 vs 100.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Bangor equals $100K in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell?
A $100,000 salary in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell has the same purchasing power as $96,452 in Bangor. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell and Bangor?
Rents in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell are indexed at 111.0 while Bangor is at 77.7 (national average = 100). Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 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.