Overall
Diff -5.3 RPP
Atlantic City-Hammonton vs Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Scranton--Wilkes-Barre is 5.4% less expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton.
5.4% less expensive
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA is 5.4% less expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.6 vs 98.9). A $100,000 salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton buys about the same as $94,638 in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.9 (Atlantic City-Hammonton) vs 93.6 (Scranton--Wilkes-Barre)
- $100k in Atlantic City-Hammonton ≈ $94,638 purchasing power in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
- Rents drives the gap (-31.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NJ:PA 98.9→93.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NJ × PA
- 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
- Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
- 100.7
Diff +0.9 RPP
Services
- Atlantic City-Hammonton
- 109.2
- Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
- 106.5
Diff -2.7 RPP
Rents
Diff -31.7 RPP
| Category | Atlantic City-Hammonton | Scranton--Wilkes-Barre | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.9 | 93.6 | -5.3 |
| Goods | 99.8 | 100.7 | +0.9 |
| Services | 109.2 | 106.5 | -2.7 |
| Rents | 98.7 | 67.0 | -31.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.9
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 93.6
Goods
Atlantic City-Hammonton 99.8
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 100.7
Services
Atlantic City-Hammonton 109.2
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 106.5
Rents
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.7
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 67.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Scranton--Wilkes-Barre is 31.7 points lower. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA is 5.4% less 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.
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 Atlantic City-Hammonton corresponds to $94,638 in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre.
Atlantic City-Hammonton
98.9
Cost Index
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
93.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton would need to be in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre for the same purchasing power:
| In Atlantic City-Hammonton | In Scranton--Wilkes-Barre | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,319 | $-2,681 |
| $75,000 | $70,978 | $-4,022 |
| $100,000 | $94,638 | $-5,362 |
| $150,000 | $141,957 | $-8,043 |
$ in Atlantic City-Hammonton = in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.9 → 93.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Atlantic City-Hammonton and Scranton--Wilkes-Barre share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 15.6 to 5.3 RPP points. Atlantic City-Hammonton remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 34.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (66.5 to 31.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Atlantic City-Hammonton RPP | Scranton--Wilkes-Barre RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 110.7 | 95.1 | 15.6 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2012 | 104.6 | 94.0 | 10.6 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2016 | 102.6 | 94.8 | 7.8 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2020 | 101.2 | 93.1 | 8.1 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2024 | 98.9 | 93.6 | 5.3 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 Scranton--Wilkes-Barre more expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton?
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre is 5.4% less expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton. The overall cost index is 93.6 vs 98.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre equals $100K in Atlantic City-Hammonton?
A $100,000 salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton has the same purchasing power as $94,638 in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Atlantic City-Hammonton and Scranton--Wilkes-Barre?
Rents in Atlantic City-Hammonton are indexed at 98.7 while Scranton--Wilkes-Barre is at 67.0 (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.