Overall
- Chattanooga
- 91.5
- Lincoln
- 91.6
Diff +0.1 RPP
Chattanooga vs Lincoln
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lincoln is 0.1% more expensive than Chattanooga.
0.1% more expensive
Lincoln, NE is 0.1% more expensive than Chattanooga, TN-GA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.6 vs 91.5). A $100,000 salary in Chattanooga buys about the same as $100,128 in Lincoln; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 91.5 (Chattanooga) vs 91.6 (Lincoln)
- $100k in Chattanooga ≈ $100,128 purchasing power in Lincoln
- Rents drives the gap (+7.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TN:NE 91.5→91.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TN × NE
- 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.
Chattanooga
91.5
Cost Index
Lincoln
91.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Chattanooga, TN-GA and Lincoln, NE 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.
Rents creates the largest separation: Lincoln is 7.7 points higher. But 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 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 Chattanooga corresponds to $100,128 in Lincoln.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Chattanooga
- 96.0
- Lincoln
- 94.1
Diff -1.9 RPP
Services
- Chattanooga
- 74.2
- Lincoln
- 76.8
Diff +2.6 RPP
Rents
- Chattanooga
- 76.5
- Lincoln
- 84.2
Diff +7.7 RPP
| Category | Chattanooga | Lincoln | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.5 | 91.6 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 96.0 | 94.1 | -1.9 |
| Services | 74.2 | 76.8 | +2.6 |
| Rents | 76.5 | 84.2 | +7.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Chattanooga 91.5
Lincoln 91.6
Goods
Chattanooga 96.0
Lincoln 94.1
Services
Chattanooga 74.2
Lincoln 76.8
Rents
Chattanooga 76.5
Lincoln 84.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Chattanooga and Lincoln share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.7 to 0.1 RPP points. Lincoln remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 4.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (2.3 to 2.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Chattanooga RPP | Lincoln RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 92.2 | 95.0 | 2.7 points Lincoln higher |
| 2012 | 94.4 | 93.8 | 0.6 points Chattanooga higher |
| 2016 | 93.8 | 93.3 | 0.5 points Chattanooga higher |
| 2020 | 90.1 | 95.2 | 5.2 points Lincoln higher |
| 2024 | 91.5 | 91.6 | 0.1 points Lincoln 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 Chattanooga would need to be in Lincoln for the same purchasing power:
| In Chattanooga | In Lincoln | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,064 | +$64 |
| $75,000 | $75,096 | +$96 |
| $100,000 | $100,128 | +$128 |
| $150,000 | $150,192 | +$192 |
$ in Chattanooga = in Lincoln
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.5 → 91.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lincoln more expensive than Chattanooga?
Lincoln is 0.1% more expensive than Chattanooga. The overall cost index is 91.6 vs 91.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lincoln equals $100K in Chattanooga?
A $100,000 salary in Chattanooga has the same purchasing power as $100,128 in Lincoln. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Chattanooga and Lincoln?
Rents in Chattanooga are indexed at 76.5 while Lincoln is at 84.2 (national average = 100). Lincoln 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.