Overall
- Elkhart-Goshen
- 90.3
- Elizabethtown
- 90.6
Diff +0.2 RPP
Elkhart-Goshen vs Elizabethtown
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Elizabethtown is 0.3% more expensive than Elkhart-Goshen.
0.3% more expensive
Elizabethtown, KY is 0.3% more expensive than Elkhart-Goshen, IN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 90.6 vs 90.3). A $100,000 salary in Elkhart-Goshen buys about the same as $100,273 in Elizabethtown; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 90.3 (Elkhart-Goshen) vs 90.6 (Elizabethtown)
- $100k in Elkhart-Goshen ≈ $100,273 purchasing power in Elizabethtown
- Services drives the gap (-11.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IN:KY 90.3→90.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IN × KY
- 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.
Elkhart-Goshen
90.3
Cost Index
Elizabethtown
90.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Elkhart-Goshen, IN and Elizabethtown, KY are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Elizabethtown is 11.8 points lower. But services 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 Elkhart-Goshen to $100,273 in Elizabethtown, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Elkhart-Goshen
- 94.3
- Elizabethtown
- 96.2
Diff +1.9 RPP
Services
- Elkhart-Goshen
- 86.4
- Elizabethtown
- 74.6
Diff -11.8 RPP
Rents
- Elkhart-Goshen
- 64.3
- Elizabethtown
- 66.7
Diff +2.3 RPP
| Category | Elkhart-Goshen | Elizabethtown | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 90.3 | 90.6 | +0.2 |
| Goods | 94.3 | 96.2 | +1.9 |
| Services | 86.4 | 74.6 | -11.8 |
| Rents | 64.3 | 66.7 | +2.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Elkhart-Goshen 90.3
Elizabethtown 90.6
Goods
Elkhart-Goshen 94.3
Elizabethtown 96.2
Services
Elkhart-Goshen 86.4
Elizabethtown 74.6
Rents
Elkhart-Goshen 64.3
Elizabethtown 66.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Elkhart-Goshen and Elizabethtown share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 6.6 to 0.2 RPP points. Elizabethtown remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 17.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (14.8 to 2.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Elkhart-Goshen RPP | Elizabethtown RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 96.6 | 90.0 | 6.6 points Elkhart-Goshen higher |
| 2012 | 92.6 | 88.8 | 3.9 points Elkhart-Goshen higher |
| 2016 | 90.1 | 88.8 | 1.3 points Elkhart-Goshen higher |
| 2020 | 91.0 | 88.0 | 3.1 points Elkhart-Goshen higher |
| 2024 | 90.3 | 90.6 | 0.2 points Elizabethtown 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 Elkhart-Goshen would need to be in Elizabethtown for the same purchasing power:
| In Elkhart-Goshen | In Elizabethtown | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,137 | +$137 |
| $75,000 | $75,205 | +$205 |
| $100,000 | $100,273 | +$273 |
| $150,000 | $150,410 | +$410 |
$ in Elkhart-Goshen = in Elizabethtown
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (90.3 → 90.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Elizabethtown more expensive than Elkhart-Goshen?
Elizabethtown is 0.3% more expensive than Elkhart-Goshen. The overall cost index is 90.6 vs 90.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Elizabethtown equals $100K in Elkhart-Goshen?
A $100,000 salary in Elkhart-Goshen has the same purchasing power as $100,273 in Elizabethtown. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Elkhart-Goshen and Elizabethtown?
Rents in Elkhart-Goshen are indexed at 64.3 while Elizabethtown is at 66.7 (national average = 100). Elizabethtown 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.