Overall
- Denver-Aurora-Centennial
- 105.8
- Vallejo
- 108.5
Diff +2.7 RPP
Denver-Aurora-Centennial vs Vallejo
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Vallejo is 2.5% more expensive than Denver-Aurora-Centennial.
2.5% more expensive
Vallejo, CA is 2.5% more expensive than Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 108.5 vs 105.8). A $100,000 salary in Denver-Aurora-Centennial buys about the same as $102,550 in Vallejo; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 105.8 (Denver-Aurora-Centennial) vs 108.5 (Vallejo)
- $100k in Denver-Aurora-Centennial ≈ $102,550 purchasing power in Vallejo
- Services drives the gap (+67.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CO:CA 105.8→108.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE CO × CA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Denver-Aurora-Centennial
- 101.0
- Vallejo
- 105.2
Diff +4.2 RPP
Services
- Vallejo
- 155.0
Diff +67.1 RPP
Rents
- Denver-Aurora-Centennial
- 146.9
- Vallejo
- 142.0
Diff -4.9 RPP
| Category | Denver-Aurora-Centennial | Vallejo | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 105.8 | 108.5 | +2.7 |
| Goods | 101.0 | 105.2 | +4.2 |
| Services | 87.9 | 155.0 | +67.1 |
| Rents | 146.9 | 142.0 | -4.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Denver-Aurora-Centennial 105.8
Vallejo 108.5
Goods
Denver-Aurora-Centennial 101.0
Vallejo 105.2
Services
Denver-Aurora-Centennial 87.9
Vallejo 155.0
Rents
Denver-Aurora-Centennial 146.9
Vallejo 142.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Vallejo is 67.1 points higher. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Vallejo, CA is 2.5% more expensive than Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.7-point overall gap.
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Denver-Aurora-Centennial to $102,550 in Vallejo, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Denver-Aurora-Centennial
105.8
Cost Index
Vallejo
108.5
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Denver-Aurora-Centennial would need to be in Vallejo for the same purchasing power:
| In Denver-Aurora-Centennial | In Vallejo | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,275 | +$1,275 |
| $75,000 | $76,912 | +$1,912 |
| $100,000 | $102,550 | +$2,550 |
| $150,000 | $153,824 | +$3,824 |
$ in Denver-Aurora-Centennial = in Vallejo
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (105.8 → 108.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Denver-Aurora-Centennial and Vallejo share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 11.0 to 2.7 RPP points. Vallejo remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 36.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (31.2 to 4.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Denver-Aurora-Centennial RPP | Vallejo RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 105.8 | 116.8 | 11.0 points Vallejo higher |
| 2012 | 105.1 | 109.7 | 4.6 points Vallejo higher |
| 2016 | 105.2 | 113.1 | 7.9 points Vallejo higher |
| 2020 | 109.4 | 110.7 | 1.3 points Vallejo higher |
| 2024 | 105.8 | 108.5 | 2.7 points Vallejo 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Vallejo more expensive than Denver-Aurora-Centennial?
Vallejo is 2.5% more expensive than Denver-Aurora-Centennial. The overall cost index is 108.5 vs 105.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Vallejo equals $100K in Denver-Aurora-Centennial?
A $100,000 salary in Denver-Aurora-Centennial has the same purchasing power as $102,550 in Vallejo. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Denver-Aurora-Centennial and Vallejo?
Rents in Denver-Aurora-Centennial are indexed at 146.9 while Vallejo is at 142.0 (national average = 100). Denver-Aurora-Centennial 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.