Overall
- Abilene
- 90.4
Diff -8.5 RPP
Atlantic City-Hammonton vs Abilene
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Abilene is 8.6% less expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton.
8.6% less expensive
Abilene, TX is 8.6% less expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 90.4 vs 98.9). A $100,000 salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton buys about the same as $91,409 in Abilene; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.9 (Atlantic City-Hammonton) vs 90.4 (Abilene)
- $100k in Atlantic City-Hammonton ≈ $91,409 purchasing power in Abilene
- Services drives the gap (-28.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NJ:TX 98.9→90.4
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE NJ × TX
- 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.
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ and Abilene, TX sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 8.5 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
Services leads the difference, with Abilene 28.0 points lower than Atlantic City-Hammonton. 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 Atlantic City-Hammonton to $91,409 in Abilene, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Atlantic City-Hammonton and Abilene share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 18.5 to 8.5 RPP points. Atlantic City-Hammonton remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 38.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (63.3 to 24.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Atlantic City-Hammonton RPP | Abilene RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 110.7 | 92.2 | 18.5 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2012 | 104.6 | 94.1 | 10.5 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2016 | 102.6 | 93.3 | 9.3 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2020 | 101.2 | 90.3 | 10.9 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2024 | 98.9 | 90.4 | 8.5 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Abilene
- 93.8
Diff -6.0 RPP
Services
- Atlantic City-Hammonton
- 109.2
- Abilene
- 81.2
Diff -28.0 RPP
Rents
- Abilene
- 73.8
Diff -24.9 RPP
| Category | Atlantic City-Hammonton | Abilene | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.9 | 90.4 | -8.5 |
| Goods | 99.8 | 93.8 | -6.0 |
| Services | 109.2 | 81.2 | -28.0 |
| Rents | 98.7 | 73.8 | -24.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.9
Abilene 90.4
Goods
Atlantic City-Hammonton 99.8
Abilene 93.8
Services
Atlantic City-Hammonton 109.2
Abilene 81.2
Rents
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.7
Abilene 73.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton would need to be in Abilene for the same purchasing power:
| In Atlantic City-Hammonton | In Abilene | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $45,704 | $-4,296 |
| $75,000 | $68,557 | $-6,443 |
| $100,000 | $91,409 | $-8,591 |
| $150,000 | $137,113 | $-12,887 |
$ in Atlantic City-Hammonton = in Abilene
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.9 → 90.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Atlantic City-Hammonton
98.9
Cost Index
Abilene
90.4
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Abilene more expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton?
Abilene is 8.6% less expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton. The overall cost index is 90.4 vs 98.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Abilene equals $100K in Atlantic City-Hammonton?
A $100,000 salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton has the same purchasing power as $91,409 in Abilene. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Atlantic City-Hammonton and Abilene?
Rents in Atlantic City-Hammonton are indexed at 98.7 while Abilene is at 73.8 (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.