Overall
- Fairbanks-College
- 103.2
- Anchorage
- 105.4
Diff +2.2 RPP
Fairbanks-College vs Anchorage
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Anchorage is 2.1% more expensive than Fairbanks-College.
2.1% more expensive
Anchorage, AK is 2.1% more expensive than Fairbanks-College, AK on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 105.4 vs 103.2). A $100,000 salary in Fairbanks-College buys about the same as $102,143 in Anchorage; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.2 (Fairbanks-College) vs 105.4 (Anchorage)
- $100k in Fairbanks-College ≈ $102,143 purchasing power in Anchorage
- Rents drives the gap (+17.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AK:AK 103.2→105.4
TIER-NEAR · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- SAME-STATE Same state · AK
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Fairbanks-College
- 107.3
- Anchorage
- 107.3
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
- Fairbanks-College
- 119.8
- Anchorage
- 111.8
Diff -8.0 RPP
Rents
- Fairbanks-College
- 92.6
- Anchorage
- 109.9
Diff +17.3 RPP
| Category | Fairbanks-College | Anchorage | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.2 | 105.4 | +2.2 |
| Goods | 107.3 | 107.3 | 0.0 |
| Services | 119.8 | 111.8 | -8.0 |
| Rents | 92.6 | 109.9 | +17.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fairbanks-College 103.2
Anchorage 105.4
Goods
Fairbanks-College 107.3
Anchorage 107.3
Services
Fairbanks-College 119.8
Anchorage 111.8
Rents
Fairbanks-College 92.6
Anchorage 109.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Anchorage is 17.3 points higher. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Anchorage, AK is 2.1% more expensive than Fairbanks-College, AK, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.2-point overall gap.
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
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 $102,143 in Anchorage.
Fairbanks-College
103.2
Cost Index
Anchorage
105.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fairbanks-College would need to be in Anchorage for the same purchasing power:
| In Fairbanks-College | In Anchorage | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,072 | +$1,072 |
| $75,000 | $76,607 | +$1,607 |
| $100,000 | $102,143 | +$2,143 |
| $150,000 | $153,215 | +$3,215 |
$ in Fairbanks-College = in Anchorage
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.2 → 105.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Fairbanks-College and Anchorage share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 1.8 to 2.2 RPP points. Anchorage remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 15.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (1.9 to 17.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Fairbanks-College RPP | Anchorage RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 104.7 | 106.5 | 1.8 points Anchorage higher |
| 2012 | 97.9 | 107.2 | 9.2 points Anchorage higher |
| 2016 | 100.4 | 108.1 | 7.7 points Anchorage higher |
| 2020 | 99.4 | 103.2 | 3.8 points Anchorage higher |
| 2024 | 103.2 | 105.4 | 2.2 points Anchorage 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 Anchorage more expensive than Fairbanks-College?
Anchorage is 2.1% more expensive than Fairbanks-College. The overall cost index is 105.4 vs 103.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Anchorage equals $100K in Fairbanks-College?
A $100,000 salary in Fairbanks-College has the same purchasing power as $102,143 in Anchorage. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fairbanks-College and Anchorage?
Rents in Fairbanks-College are indexed at 92.6 while Anchorage is at 109.9 (national average = 100). Anchorage 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.