Overall
- Charlottesville
- 99.1
Diff -0.9 RPP
Charlottesville vs Prescott Valley-Prescott
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Prescott Valley-Prescott is 0.9% less expensive than Charlottesville.
0.9% less expensive
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ is 0.9% less expensive than Charlottesville, VA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 99.1). A $100,000 salary in Charlottesville buys about the same as $99,101 in Prescott Valley-Prescott; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 99.1 (Charlottesville) vs 98.3 (Prescott Valley-Prescott)
- $100k in Charlottesville ≈ $99,101 purchasing power in Prescott Valley-Prescott
- Rents drives the gap (-8.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair VA:AZ 99.1→98.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE VA × AZ
- 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.
Charlottesville
99.1
Cost Index
Prescott Valley-Prescott
98.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Charlottesville, VA and Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.9 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Prescott Valley-Prescott is 8.3 points lower. But services 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 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 Charlottesville corresponds to $99,101 in Prescott Valley-Prescott.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Charlottesville
- 96.8
Diff -0.5 RPP
Services
- Charlottesville
- 89.0
Diff +2.5 RPP
Rents
- Charlottesville
- 107.0
Diff -8.3 RPP
| Category | Charlottesville | Prescott Valley-Prescott | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 99.1 | 98.3 | -0.9 |
| Goods | 96.8 | 96.2 | -0.5 |
| Services | 89.0 | 91.5 | +2.5 |
| Rents | 107.0 | 98.8 | -8.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Charlottesville 99.1
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.3
Goods
Charlottesville 96.8
Prescott Valley-Prescott 96.2
Services
Charlottesville 89.0
Prescott Valley-Prescott 91.5
Rents
Charlottesville 107.0
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Charlottesville would need to be in Prescott Valley-Prescott for the same purchasing power:
| In Charlottesville | In Prescott Valley-Prescott | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,551 | $-449 |
| $75,000 | $74,326 | $-674 |
| $100,000 | $99,101 | $-899 |
| $150,000 | $148,652 | $-1,348 |
$ in Charlottesville = in Prescott Valley-Prescott
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (99.1 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Prescott Valley-Prescott more expensive than Charlottesville?
Prescott Valley-Prescott is 0.9% less expensive than Charlottesville. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 99.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott equals $100K in Charlottesville?
A $100,000 salary in Charlottesville has the same purchasing power as $99,101 in Prescott Valley-Prescott. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Charlottesville and Prescott Valley-Prescott?
Rents in Charlottesville are indexed at 107.0 while Prescott Valley-Prescott is at 98.8 (national average = 100). Charlottesville 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.