Overall
- Fairbanks-College
- 103.2
- Altoona
- 89.5
Diff -13.7 RPP
Fairbanks-College vs Altoona
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Altoona is 13.3% less expensive than Fairbanks-College.
13.3% less expensive
Altoona, PA is 13.3% less expensive than Fairbanks-College, AK on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 89.5 vs 103.2). A $100,000 salary in Fairbanks-College buys about the same as $86,725 in Altoona; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.2 (Fairbanks-College) vs 89.5 (Altoona)
- $100k in Fairbanks-College ≈ $86,725 purchasing power in Altoona
- Rents drives the gap (-37.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AK:PA 103.2→89.5
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE AK × PA
- RENT-LED Rent-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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fairbanks-College would need to be in Altoona for the same purchasing power:
| In Fairbanks-College | In Altoona | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $43,362 | $-6,638 |
| $75,000 | $65,044 | $-9,956 |
| $100,000 | $86,725 | $-13,275 |
| $150,000 | $130,087 | $-19,913 |
$ in Fairbanks-College = in Altoona
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.2 → 89.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Fairbanks-College, AK and Altoona, PA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 13.7 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 Altoona is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Altoona 37.6 points lower than Fairbanks-College. 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 Fairbanks-College corresponds to $86,725 in Altoona.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Fairbanks-College
- 107.3
- Altoona
- 100.7
Diff -6.7 RPP
Services
- Fairbanks-College
- 119.8
- Altoona
- 107.7
Diff -12.1 RPP
Rents
- Fairbanks-College
- 92.6
- Altoona
- 55.0
Diff -37.6 RPP
| Category | Fairbanks-College | Altoona | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.2 | 89.5 | -13.7 |
| Goods | 107.3 | 100.7 | -6.7 |
| Services | 119.8 | 107.7 | -12.1 |
| Rents | 92.6 | 55.0 | -37.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fairbanks-College 103.2
Altoona 89.5
Goods
Fairbanks-College 107.3
Altoona 100.7
Services
Fairbanks-College 119.8
Altoona 107.7
Rents
Fairbanks-College 92.6
Altoona 55.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Fairbanks-College
103.2
Cost Index
Altoona
89.5
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Fairbanks-College and Altoona share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 10.8 to 13.7 RPP points. Fairbanks-College remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 28.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (16.0 to 12.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Fairbanks-College RPP | Altoona RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 104.7 | 93.9 | 10.8 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2012 | 97.9 | 92.3 | 5.7 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2016 | 100.4 | 91.5 | 8.9 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2020 | 99.4 | 89.7 | 9.6 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2024 | 103.2 | 89.5 | 13.7 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Altoona more expensive than Fairbanks-College?
Altoona is 13.3% less expensive than Fairbanks-College. The overall cost index is 89.5 vs 103.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Altoona equals $100K in Fairbanks-College?
A $100,000 salary in Fairbanks-College has the same purchasing power as $86,725 in Altoona. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fairbanks-College and Altoona?
Rents in Fairbanks-College are indexed at 92.6 while Altoona is at 55.0 (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.