Overall
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 103.7
Diff +12.7 RPP
College Station-Bryan vs Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 14% more expensive than College Station-Bryan.
14% more expensive
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA is 14% more expensive than College Station-Bryan, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.7 vs 91.0). A $100,000 salary in College Station-Bryan buys about the same as $113,984 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 91.0 (College Station-Bryan) vs 103.7 (Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater)
- $100k in College Station-Bryan ≈ $113,984 purchasing power in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- Rents drives the gap (+41.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:WA 91.0→103.7
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE TX × WA
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in College Station-Bryan would need to be in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater for the same purchasing power:
| In College Station-Bryan | In Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $56,992 | +$6,992 |
| $75,000 | $85,488 | +$10,488 |
| $100,000 | $113,984 | +$13,984 |
| $150,000 | $170,977 | +$20,977 |
$ in College Station-Bryan = in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.0 → 103.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
College Station-Bryan, TX and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 12.7 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is above 100 while College Station-Bryan is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 41.6 points higher than College Station-Bryan. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 College Station-Bryan corresponds to $113,984 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 105.0
Diff +11.3 RPP
Services
Diff +7.3 RPP
Rents
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 116.7
Diff +41.6 RPP
| Category | College Station-Bryan | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.0 | 103.7 | +12.7 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 105.0 | +11.3 |
| Services | 84.4 | 91.7 | +7.3 |
| Rents | 75.1 | 116.7 | +41.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
College Station-Bryan 91.0
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 103.7
Goods
College Station-Bryan 93.8
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 105.0
Services
College Station-Bryan 84.4
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 91.7
Rents
College Station-Bryan 75.1
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 116.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
College Station-Bryan
91.0
Cost Index
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
103.7
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
College Station-Bryan and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 10.2 to 12.7 RPP points. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 26.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (19.4 to 7.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | College Station-Bryan RPP | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.1 | 105.4 | 10.2 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2012 | 96.5 | 101.3 | 4.9 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2016 | 96.4 | 106.0 | 9.6 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2020 | 95.1 | 101.9 | 6.8 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2024 | 91.0 | 103.7 | 12.7 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 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.
Reverse: Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater → College Station-Bryan College Station-Bryan Details
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater Details
Also Compare
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater more expensive than College Station-Bryan?
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 14% more expensive than College Station-Bryan. The overall cost index is 103.7 vs 91.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater equals $100K in College Station-Bryan?
A $100,000 salary in College Station-Bryan has the same purchasing power as $113,984 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between College Station-Bryan and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater?
Rents in College Station-Bryan are indexed at 75.1 while Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is at 116.7 (national average = 100). Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 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.