Overall
Diff -0.8 RPP
Erie vs Rome
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Rome is 0.9% less expensive than Erie.
0.9% less expensive
Rome, GA is 0.9% less expensive than Erie, PA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 90.2 vs 91.0). A $100,000 salary in Erie buys about the same as $99,132 in Rome; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 91.0 (Erie) vs 90.2 (Rome)
- $100k in Erie ≈ $99,132 purchasing power in Rome
- Services drives the gap (-16.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair PA:GA 91.0→90.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE PA × GA
- 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.
Erie
91.0
Cost Index
Rome
90.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Erie, PA and Rome, GA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.8 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Rome is 16.1 points lower. But rents 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 Erie to $99,132 in Rome, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -4.4 RPP
Services
Diff -16.1 RPP
Rents
Diff +3.4 RPP
| Category | Erie | Rome | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.0 | 90.2 | -0.8 |
| Goods | 100.7 | 96.3 | -4.4 |
| Services | 106.8 | 90.7 | -16.1 |
| Rents | 56.8 | 60.3 | +3.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Erie 91.0
Rome 90.2
Goods
Erie 100.7
Rome 96.3
Services
Erie 106.8
Rome 90.7
Rents
Erie 56.8
Rome 60.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Erie and Rome share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 8.5 to 0.8 RPP points. Erie remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 11.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (7.8 to 3.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Erie RPP | Rome RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 96.5 | 88.0 | 8.5 points Erie higher |
| 2012 | 95.3 | 86.3 | 9.0 points Erie higher |
| 2016 | 95.5 | 88.3 | 7.2 points Erie higher |
| 2020 | 92.8 | 86.3 | 6.5 points Erie higher |
| 2024 | 91.0 | 90.2 | 0.8 points Erie 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 Erie would need to be in Rome for the same purchasing power:
| In Erie | In Rome | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,566 | $-434 |
| $75,000 | $74,349 | $-651 |
| $100,000 | $99,132 | $-868 |
| $150,000 | $148,699 | $-1,301 |
$ in Erie = in Rome
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.0 → 90.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Rome more expensive than Erie?
Rome is 0.9% less expensive than Erie. The overall cost index is 90.2 vs 91.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Rome equals $100K in Erie?
A $100,000 salary in Erie has the same purchasing power as $99,132 in Rome. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Erie and Rome?
Rents in Erie are indexed at 56.8 while Rome is at 60.3 (national average = 100). Rome 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.