Overall
- Modesto
- 104.1
Diff +5.3 RPP
Atlantic City-Hammonton vs Modesto
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Modesto is 5.3% more expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton.
5.3% more expensive
Modesto, CA is 5.3% more expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 104.1 vs 98.9). A $100,000 salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton buys about the same as $105,312 in Modesto; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.9 (Atlantic City-Hammonton) vs 104.1 (Modesto)
- $100k in Atlantic City-Hammonton ≈ $105,312 purchasing power in Modesto
- Services drives the gap (+43.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NJ:CA 98.9→104.1
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NJ × CA
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Modesto, CA is 5.3% more expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.3-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Modesto is above 100 while Atlantic City-Hammonton is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Services leads the difference, with Modesto 43.1 points higher 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 $105,312 in Modesto, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Atlantic City-Hammonton and Modesto share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 12.0 to 5.3 RPP points. Modesto remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 63.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (20.2 to 43.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Atlantic City-Hammonton RPP | Modesto RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 110.7 | 98.7 | 12.0 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2012 | 104.6 | 102.1 | 2.5 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2016 | 102.6 | 97.8 | 4.9 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2020 | 101.2 | 103.2 | 2.0 points Modesto higher |
| 2024 | 98.9 | 104.1 | 5.3 points Modesto 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
- Modesto
- 105.2
Diff +5.4 RPP
Services
- Atlantic City-Hammonton
- 109.2
- Modesto
- 152.3
Diff +43.1 RPP
Rents
- Modesto
- 108.5
Diff +9.8 RPP
| Category | Atlantic City-Hammonton | Modesto | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.9 | 104.1 | +5.3 |
| Goods | 99.8 | 105.2 | +5.4 |
| Services | 109.2 | 152.3 | +43.1 |
| Rents | 98.7 | 108.5 | +9.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.9
Modesto 104.1
Goods
Atlantic City-Hammonton 99.8
Modesto 105.2
Services
Atlantic City-Hammonton 109.2
Modesto 152.3
Rents
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.7
Modesto 108.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton would need to be in Modesto for the same purchasing power:
| In Atlantic City-Hammonton | In Modesto | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,656 | +$2,656 |
| $75,000 | $78,984 | +$3,984 |
| $100,000 | $105,312 | +$5,312 |
| $150,000 | $157,968 | +$7,968 |
$ in Atlantic City-Hammonton = in Modesto
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.9 → 104.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Atlantic City-Hammonton
98.9
Cost Index
Modesto
104.1
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Modesto more expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton?
Modesto is 5.3% more expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton. The overall cost index is 104.1 vs 98.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Modesto equals $100K in Atlantic City-Hammonton?
A $100,000 salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton has the same purchasing power as $105,312 in Modesto. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Atlantic City-Hammonton and Modesto?
Rents in Atlantic City-Hammonton are indexed at 98.7 while Modesto is at 108.5 (national average = 100). Modesto 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.