Overall
- Elkhart-Goshen
- 90.3
- Fairbanks-College
- 103.2
Diff +12.9 RPP
Elkhart-Goshen vs Fairbanks-College
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Fairbanks-College is 14.3% more expensive than Elkhart-Goshen.
14.3% more expensive
Fairbanks-College, AK is 14.3% more expensive than Elkhart-Goshen, IN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.2 vs 90.3). A $100,000 salary in Elkhart-Goshen buys about the same as $114,263 in Fairbanks-College; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 90.3 (Elkhart-Goshen) vs 103.2 (Fairbanks-College)
- $100k in Elkhart-Goshen ≈ $114,263 purchasing power in Fairbanks-College
- Services drives the gap (+33.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IN:AK 90.3→103.2
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE IN × AK
- SERVICES-LED Services-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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Elkhart-Goshen, IN and Fairbanks-College, AK sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 12.9 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Fairbanks-College is above 100 while Elkhart-Goshen is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Services leads the difference, with Fairbanks-College 33.4 points higher than Elkhart-Goshen. 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 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 $114,263 in Fairbanks-College, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Elkhart-Goshen and Fairbanks-College share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 8.1 to 12.9 RPP points. Fairbanks-College remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 22.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (10.9 to 33.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Elkhart-Goshen RPP | Fairbanks-College RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 96.6 | 104.7 | 8.1 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2012 | 92.6 | 97.9 | 5.3 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2016 | 90.1 | 100.4 | 10.3 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2020 | 91.0 | 99.4 | 8.4 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2024 | 90.3 | 103.2 | 12.9 points Fairbanks-College 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Elkhart-Goshen
- 94.3
- Fairbanks-College
- 107.3
Diff +13.0 RPP
Services
- Elkhart-Goshen
- 86.4
- Fairbanks-College
- 119.8
Diff +33.4 RPP
Rents
- Elkhart-Goshen
- 64.3
- Fairbanks-College
- 92.6
Diff +28.2 RPP
| Category | Elkhart-Goshen | Fairbanks-College | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 90.3 | 103.2 | +12.9 |
| Goods | 94.3 | 107.3 | +13.0 |
| Services | 86.4 | 119.8 | +33.4 |
| Rents | 64.3 | 92.6 | +28.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Elkhart-Goshen 90.3
Fairbanks-College 103.2
Goods
Elkhart-Goshen 94.3
Fairbanks-College 107.3
Services
Elkhart-Goshen 86.4
Fairbanks-College 119.8
Rents
Elkhart-Goshen 64.3
Fairbanks-College 92.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Elkhart-Goshen would need to be in Fairbanks-College for the same purchasing power:
| In Elkhart-Goshen | In Fairbanks-College | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $57,131 | +$7,131 |
| $75,000 | $85,697 | +$10,697 |
| $100,000 | $114,263 | +$14,263 |
| $150,000 | $171,394 | +$21,394 |
$ in Elkhart-Goshen = in Fairbanks-College
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (90.3 → 103.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Elkhart-Goshen
90.3
Cost Index
Fairbanks-College
103.2
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fairbanks-College more expensive than Elkhart-Goshen?
Fairbanks-College is 14.3% more expensive than Elkhart-Goshen. The overall cost index is 103.2 vs 90.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Fairbanks-College equals $100K in Elkhart-Goshen?
A $100,000 salary in Elkhart-Goshen has the same purchasing power as $114,263 in Fairbanks-College. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Elkhart-Goshen and Fairbanks-College?
Rents in Elkhart-Goshen are indexed at 64.3 while Fairbanks-College is at 92.6 (national average = 100). Fairbanks-College 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.