Overall
- Binghamton
- 92.9
- Eau Claire
- 92.8
Diff -0.1 RPP
Binghamton vs Eau Claire
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Eau Claire is 0.1% less expensive than Binghamton.
0.1% less expensive
Eau Claire, WI is 0.1% less expensive than Binghamton, NY on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.8 vs 92.9). A $100,000 salary in Binghamton buys about the same as $99,928 in Eau Claire; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 92.9 (Binghamton) vs 92.8 (Eau Claire)
- $100k in Binghamton ≈ $99,928 purchasing power in Eau Claire
- Services drives the gap (-40.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NY:WI 92.9→92.8
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NY × WI
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Binghamton
92.9
Cost Index
Eau Claire
92.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Binghamton, NY and Eau Claire, WI are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Eau Claire is 40.6 points lower. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
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 Binghamton to $99,928 in Eau Claire, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Binghamton
- 99.7
- Eau Claire
- 93.8
Diff -5.9 RPP
Services
- Binghamton
- 131.6
- Eau Claire
- 90.9
Diff -40.6 RPP
Rents
- Binghamton
- 69.7
- Eau Claire
- 72.8
Diff +3.2 RPP
| Category | Binghamton | Eau Claire | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.9 | 92.8 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 99.7 | 93.8 | -5.9 |
| Services | 131.6 | 90.9 | -40.6 |
| Rents | 69.7 | 72.8 | +3.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Binghamton 92.9
Eau Claire 92.8
Goods
Binghamton 99.7
Eau Claire 93.8
Services
Binghamton 131.6
Eau Claire 90.9
Rents
Binghamton 69.7
Eau Claire 72.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Binghamton and Eau Claire share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.4 to 0.1 RPP points. Binghamton remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 4.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (7.5 to 3.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Binghamton RPP | Eau Claire RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.0 | 96.6 | 0.4 points Binghamton higher |
| 2012 | 94.9 | 94.8 | 0.2 points Binghamton higher |
| 2016 | 96.1 | 91.6 | 4.5 points Binghamton higher |
| 2020 | 96.9 | 92.2 | 4.7 points Binghamton higher |
| 2024 | 92.9 | 92.8 | 0.1 points Binghamton 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 Binghamton would need to be in Eau Claire for the same purchasing power:
| In Binghamton | In Eau Claire | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,964 | $-36 |
| $75,000 | $74,946 | $-54 |
| $100,000 | $99,928 | $-72 |
| $150,000 | $149,892 | $-108 |
$ in Binghamton = in Eau Claire
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.9 → 92.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Eau Claire more expensive than Binghamton?
Eau Claire is 0.1% less expensive than Binghamton. The overall cost index is 92.8 vs 92.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Eau Claire equals $100K in Binghamton?
A $100,000 salary in Binghamton has the same purchasing power as $99,928 in Eau Claire. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Binghamton and Eau Claire?
Rents in Binghamton are indexed at 69.7 while Eau Claire is at 72.8 (national average = 100). Eau Claire 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.