Overall
- Erie
- 91.0
Diff -0.0 RPP
College Station-Bryan vs Erie
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Erie is 0% less expensive than College Station-Bryan.
0% less expensive
Erie, PA is 0% less expensive than College Station-Bryan, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.0 vs 91.0). A $100,000 salary in College Station-Bryan buys about the same as $99,999 in Erie; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 91.0 (College Station-Bryan) vs 91.0 (Erie)
- $100k in College Station-Bryan ≈ $99,999 purchasing power in Erie
- Services drives the gap (+22.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:PA 91.0→91.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × 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.
College Station-Bryan
91.0
Cost Index
Erie
91.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
College Station-Bryan, TX and Erie, PA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.0 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Erie is 22.4 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 College Station-Bryan to $99,999 in Erie, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Erie
- 100.7
Diff +6.9 RPP
Services
- Erie
- 106.8
Diff +22.4 RPP
Rents
- Erie
- 56.8
Diff -18.3 RPP
| Category | College Station-Bryan | Erie | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.0 | 91.0 | -0.0 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 100.7 | +6.9 |
| Services | 84.4 | 106.8 | +22.4 |
| Rents | 75.1 | 56.8 | -18.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
College Station-Bryan 91.0
Erie 91.0
Goods
College Station-Bryan 93.8
Erie 100.7
Services
College Station-Bryan 84.4
Erie 106.8
Rents
College Station-Bryan 75.1
Erie 56.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in College Station-Bryan would need to be in Erie for the same purchasing power:
| In College Station-Bryan | In Erie | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,999 | $-1 |
| $75,000 | $74,999 | $-1 |
| $100,000 | $99,999 | $-1 |
| $150,000 | $149,998 | $-2 |
$ in College Station-Bryan = in Erie
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.0 → 91.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Also Compare
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Erie more expensive than College Station-Bryan?
Erie is 0% less expensive than College Station-Bryan. The overall cost index is 91.0 vs 91.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Erie equals $100K in College Station-Bryan?
A $100,000 salary in College Station-Bryan has the same purchasing power as $99,999 in Erie. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between College Station-Bryan and Erie?
Rents in College Station-Bryan are indexed at 75.1 while Erie is at 56.8 (national average = 100). College Station-Bryan 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.