Eagle Pass vs Lancaster

Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lancaster is 17.2% more expensive than Eagle Pass.

17.2% more expensive

Lancaster, PA is 17.2% more expensive than Eagle Pass, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 83.8). A $100,000 salary in Eagle Pass buys about the same as $117,245 in Lancaster; the largest component gap is rents.

  • Overall RPP 83.8 (Eagle Pass) vs 98.3 (Lancaster)
  • $100k in Eagle Pass ≈ $117,245 purchasing power in Lancaster
  • Rents drives the gap (+40.1 RPP points)

RPP parity plate

Pair TX:PA 83.8→98.3

TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-STEEP

  • TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
  • CROSS-STATE TX × PA
  • RENT-LED Rent-led gap
  • BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
  • PP-STEEP Steep PP convert

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 Eagle Pass would need to be in Lancaster for the same purchasing power:

In Eagle Pass In Lancaster Difference
$50,000 $58,622 +$8,622
$75,000 $87,934 +$12,934
$100,000 $117,245 +$17,245
$150,000 $175,867 +$25,867
$ in Eagle Pass = in Lancaster

Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (83.8 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.

What This Comparison Actually Tells You

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.

Eagle Pass, TX and Lancaster, PA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 14.5 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.

Rents leads the difference, with Lancaster 40.1 points higher than Eagle Pass. 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 Eagle Pass corresponds to $117,245 in Lancaster.

Category Breakdown

Visual Comparison

Overall
Eagle Pass
83.8
Lancaster
98.3
Goods
Eagle Pass
93.8
Lancaster
100.7
Services
Eagle Pass
81.9
Lancaster
107.3
Rents
Eagle Pass
53.7
Lancaster
93.8

Vertical line = national average (100)

Eagle Pass
83.8
Cost Index
Lancaster
98.3
Cost Index

How the Price Gap Changed

Eagle Pass and Lancaster share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 15.8 to 14.5 RPP points. Lancaster remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.

Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 7.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (18.2 to 25.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.

Release Year Eagle Pass RPP Lancaster RPP Relative Gap
2008 84.4 100.2 15.8 points Lancaster higher
2012 85.9 97.8 11.9 points Lancaster higher
2016 84.6 99.4 14.8 points Lancaster higher
2020 89.1 97.9 8.7 points Lancaster higher
2024 83.8 98.3 14.5 points Lancaster 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 Lancaster more expensive than Eagle Pass?

Lancaster is 17.2% more expensive than Eagle Pass. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 83.8 (national average = 100).

What salary in Lancaster equals $100K in Eagle Pass?

A $100,000 salary in Eagle Pass has the same purchasing power as $117,245 in Lancaster. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.

How do rents compare between Eagle Pass and Lancaster?

Rents in Eagle Pass are indexed at 53.7 while Lancaster is at 93.8 (national average = 100). Lancaster has higher rents.

Data sourced from official public datasets, Regional Price Parities (2024), index where national average = 100. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCost. See our methodology for details.

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.