Overall
- Casper
- 93.8
Diff -0.3 RPP
Casper vs Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Scranton--Wilkes-Barre is 0.3% less expensive than Casper.
0.3% less expensive
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA is 0.3% less expensive than Casper, WY on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.6 vs 93.8). A $100,000 salary in Casper buys about the same as $99,709 in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 93.8 (Casper) vs 93.6 (Scranton--Wilkes-Barre)
- $100k in Casper ≈ $99,709 purchasing power in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
- Services drives the gap (+27.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WY:PA 93.8→93.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WY × PA
- 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.
Casper
93.8
Cost Index
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
93.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Casper, WY and Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA 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: Scranton--Wilkes-Barre is 27.7 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 Casper to $99,709 in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Casper
- 95.4
- Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
- 100.7
Diff +5.3 RPP
Services
- Casper
- 78.9
- Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
- 106.5
Diff +27.7 RPP
Rents
- Casper
- 74.2
Diff -7.2 RPP
| Category | Casper | Scranton--Wilkes-Barre | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.8 | 93.6 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 95.4 | 100.7 | +5.3 |
| Services | 78.9 | 106.5 | +27.7 |
| Rents | 74.2 | 67.0 | -7.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Casper 93.8
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 93.6
Goods
Casper 95.4
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 100.7
Services
Casper 78.9
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 106.5
Rents
Casper 74.2
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 67.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Casper and Scranton--Wilkes-Barre share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.8 to 0.3 RPP points. Casper remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 11.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (38.9 to 27.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Casper RPP | Scranton--Wilkes-Barre RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 92.3 | 95.1 | 2.8 points Scranton--Wilkes-Barre higher |
| 2012 | 99.2 | 94.0 | 5.2 points Casper higher |
| 2016 | 97.6 | 94.8 | 2.8 points Casper higher |
| 2020 | 93.3 | 93.1 | 0.2 points Casper higher |
| 2024 | 93.8 | 93.6 | 0.3 points Casper 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 Casper would need to be in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre for the same purchasing power:
| In Casper | In Scranton--Wilkes-Barre | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,855 | $-145 |
| $75,000 | $74,782 | $-218 |
| $100,000 | $99,709 | $-291 |
| $150,000 | $149,564 | $-436 |
$ in Casper = in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (93.8 → 93.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Scranton--Wilkes-Barre more expensive than Casper?
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre is 0.3% less expensive than Casper. The overall cost index is 93.6 vs 93.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre equals $100K in Casper?
A $100,000 salary in Casper has the same purchasing power as $99,709 in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Casper and Scranton--Wilkes-Barre?
Rents in Casper are indexed at 74.2 while Scranton--Wilkes-Barre is at 67.0 (national average = 100). Casper 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.