Overall
- Yakima
- 95.5
Diff -3.3 RPP
Atlantic City-Hammonton vs Yakima
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Yakima is 3.4% less expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton.
3.4% less expensive
Yakima, WA is 3.4% less expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 95.5 vs 98.9). A $100,000 salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton buys about the same as $96,650 in Yakima; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.9 (Atlantic City-Hammonton) vs 95.5 (Yakima)
- $100k in Atlantic City-Hammonton ≈ $96,650 purchasing power in Yakima
- Rents drives the gap (-26.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NJ:WA 98.9→95.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NJ × WA
- 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
- Yakima
- 105.0
Diff +5.2 RPP
Services
- Atlantic City-Hammonton
- 109.2
- Yakima
- 91.9
Diff -17.3 RPP
Rents
- Yakima
- 72.6
Diff -26.0 RPP
| Category | Atlantic City-Hammonton | Yakima | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.9 | 95.5 | -3.3 |
| Goods | 99.8 | 105.0 | +5.2 |
| Services | 109.2 | 91.9 | -17.3 |
| Rents | 98.7 | 72.6 | -26.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.9
Yakima 95.5
Goods
Atlantic City-Hammonton 99.8
Yakima 105.0
Services
Atlantic City-Hammonton 109.2
Yakima 91.9
Rents
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.7
Yakima 72.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Yakima is 26.0 points lower. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Yakima, WA is 3.4% less expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.3-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 $96,650 in Yakima.
Atlantic City-Hammonton
98.9
Cost Index
Yakima
95.5
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton would need to be in Yakima for the same purchasing power:
| In Atlantic City-Hammonton | In Yakima | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,325 | $-1,675 |
| $75,000 | $72,487 | $-2,513 |
| $100,000 | $96,650 | $-3,350 |
| $150,000 | $144,975 | $-5,025 |
$ in Atlantic City-Hammonton = in Yakima
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.9 → 95.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Atlantic City-Hammonton and Yakima share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 17.7 to 3.3 RPP points. Atlantic City-Hammonton remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 28.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (46.0 to 17.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Atlantic City-Hammonton RPP | Yakima RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 110.7 | 93.0 | 17.7 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2012 | 104.6 | 97.1 | 7.5 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2016 | 102.6 | 94.4 | 8.3 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2020 | 101.2 | 96.2 | 5.0 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2024 | 98.9 | 95.5 | 3.3 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 Yakima more expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton?
Yakima is 3.4% less expensive than Atlantic City-Hammonton. The overall cost index is 95.5 vs 98.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Yakima equals $100K in Atlantic City-Hammonton?
A $100,000 salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton has the same purchasing power as $96,650 in Yakima. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Atlantic City-Hammonton and Yakima?
Rents in Atlantic City-Hammonton are indexed at 98.7 while Yakima is at 72.6 (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.