Overall
- Auburn-Opelika
- 87.9
- Farmington
- 87.7
Diff -0.2 RPP
Auburn-Opelika vs Farmington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Farmington is 0.3% less expensive than Auburn-Opelika.
0.3% less expensive
Farmington, NM is 0.3% less expensive than Auburn-Opelika, AL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.7 vs 87.9). A $100,000 salary in Auburn-Opelika buys about the same as $99,743 in Farmington; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.9 (Auburn-Opelika) vs 87.7 (Farmington)
- $100k in Auburn-Opelika ≈ $99,743 purchasing power in Farmington
- Services drives the gap (-6.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:NM 87.9→87.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AL × NM
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
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.
Auburn-Opelika
87.9
Cost Index
Farmington
87.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Auburn-Opelika, AL and Farmington, NM are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with Farmington 6.0 points lower than Auburn-Opelika. 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.
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.
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 Auburn-Opelika to $99,743 in Farmington, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Auburn-Opelika
- 96.4
- Farmington
- 96.1
Diff -0.3 RPP
Services
- Auburn-Opelika
- 83.9
- Farmington
- 77.9
Diff -6.0 RPP
Rents
- Auburn-Opelika
- 62.1
- Farmington
- 56.6
Diff -5.5 RPP
| Category | Auburn-Opelika | Farmington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.9 | 87.7 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 96.1 | -0.3 |
| Services | 83.9 | 77.9 | -6.0 |
| Rents | 62.1 | 56.6 | -5.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Auburn-Opelika 87.9
Farmington 87.7
Goods
Auburn-Opelika 96.4
Farmington 96.1
Services
Auburn-Opelika 83.9
Farmington 77.9
Rents
Auburn-Opelika 62.1
Farmington 56.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Auburn-Opelika and Farmington share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 5.7 to 0.2 RPP points. Auburn-Opelika remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 8.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (8.1 to 0.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Auburn-Opelika RPP | Farmington RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 89.3 | 95.0 | 5.7 points Farmington higher |
| 2012 | 90.4 | 94.8 | 4.5 points Farmington higher |
| 2016 | 89.7 | 95.0 | 5.3 points Farmington higher |
| 2020 | 88.7 | 89.1 | 0.4 points Farmington higher |
| 2024 | 87.9 | 87.7 | 0.2 points Auburn-Opelika 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Auburn-Opelika would need to be in Farmington for the same purchasing power:
| In Auburn-Opelika | In Farmington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,871 | $-129 |
| $75,000 | $74,807 | $-193 |
| $100,000 | $99,743 | $-257 |
| $150,000 | $149,614 | $-386 |
$ in Auburn-Opelika = in Farmington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.9 → 87.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Farmington more expensive than Auburn-Opelika?
Farmington is 0.3% less expensive than Auburn-Opelika. The overall cost index is 87.7 vs 87.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Farmington equals $100K in Auburn-Opelika?
A $100,000 salary in Auburn-Opelika has the same purchasing power as $99,743 in Farmington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Auburn-Opelika and Farmington?
Rents in Auburn-Opelika are indexed at 62.1 while Farmington is at 56.6 (national average = 100). Auburn-Opelika 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.