Overall
- Bloomington
- 95.1
- Lewiston-Auburn
- 94.7
Diff -0.3 RPP
Bloomington vs Lewiston-Auburn
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lewiston-Auburn is 0.4% less expensive than Bloomington.
0.4% less expensive
Lewiston-Auburn, ME is 0.4% less expensive than Bloomington, IN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 94.7 vs 95.1). A $100,000 salary in Bloomington buys about the same as $99,634 in Lewiston-Auburn; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 95.1 (Bloomington) vs 94.7 (Lewiston-Auburn)
- $100k in Bloomington ≈ $99,634 purchasing power in Lewiston-Auburn
- Services drives the gap (+47.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IN:ME 95.1→94.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IN × ME
- 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.
Bloomington
95.1
Cost Index
Lewiston-Auburn
94.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Bloomington, IN and Lewiston-Auburn, ME are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Lewiston-Auburn is 47.9 points higher. But services and goods 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 Bloomington to $99,634 in Lewiston-Auburn, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Bloomington
- 94.3
- Lewiston-Auburn
- 97.2
Diff +2.9 RPP
Services
- Bloomington
- 86.5
- Lewiston-Auburn
- 134.4
Diff +47.9 RPP
Rents
- Bloomington
- 85.6
- Lewiston-Auburn
- 69.0
Diff -16.6 RPP
| Category | Bloomington | Lewiston-Auburn | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 95.1 | 94.7 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 94.3 | 97.2 | +2.9 |
| Services | 86.5 | 134.4 | +47.9 |
| Rents | 85.6 | 69.0 | -16.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Bloomington 95.1
Lewiston-Auburn 94.7
Goods
Bloomington 94.3
Lewiston-Auburn 97.2
Services
Bloomington 86.5
Lewiston-Auburn 134.4
Rents
Bloomington 85.6
Lewiston-Auburn 69.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Bloomington would need to be in Lewiston-Auburn for the same purchasing power:
| In Bloomington | In Lewiston-Auburn | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,817 | $-183 |
| $75,000 | $74,726 | $-274 |
| $100,000 | $99,634 | $-366 |
| $150,000 | $149,451 | $-549 |
$ in Bloomington = in Lewiston-Auburn
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (95.1 → 94.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lewiston-Auburn more expensive than Bloomington?
Lewiston-Auburn is 0.4% less expensive than Bloomington. The overall cost index is 94.7 vs 95.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lewiston-Auburn equals $100K in Bloomington?
A $100,000 salary in Bloomington has the same purchasing power as $99,634 in Lewiston-Auburn. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Bloomington and Lewiston-Auburn?
Rents in Bloomington are indexed at 85.6 while Lewiston-Auburn is at 69.0 (national average = 100). Bloomington 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.