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Fargo vs Erie

Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Erie is 0.1% more expensive than Fargo.

0.1% more expensive

Erie, PA is 0.1% more expensive than Fargo, ND-MN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.0 vs 90.9). A $100,000 salary in Fargo buys about the same as $100,087 in Erie; the largest component gap is services.

  • Overall RPP 90.9 (Fargo) vs 91.0 (Erie)
  • $100k in Fargo ≈ $100,087 purchasing power in Erie
  • Services drives the gap (+29.5 RPP points)

RPP parity plate

Pair ND:PA 90.9→91.0

PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR

  • PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
  • CROSS-STATE ND × PA
  • 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.

Fargo
90.9
Cost Index
Erie
91.0
Cost Index

What This Comparison Actually Tells You

Fargo, ND-MN and Erie, PA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.

Services creates the largest separation: Erie is 29.5 points higher. 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 Fargo to $100,087 in Erie, but it is not a personal spending weight.

Category Breakdown

Services

Fargo
77.3
Erie
106.8

Diff +29.5 RPP

Visual Comparison

Overall
Fargo
90.9
Erie
91.0
Goods
Fargo
95.7
Erie
100.7
Services
Fargo
77.3
Erie
106.8
Rents
Fargo
81.1
Erie
56.8

Vertical line = national average (100)

Salary Equivalents

What a salary in Fargo would need to be in Erie for the same purchasing power:

In Fargo In Erie Difference
$50,000 $50,043 +$43
$75,000 $75,065 +$65
$100,000 $100,087 +$87
$150,000 $150,130 +$130
$ in Fargo = – in Erie

Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (90.9 → 91.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.

Reverse: Erie → Fargo Fargo Details Erie Details

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Erie more expensive than Fargo?

Erie is 0.1% more expensive than Fargo. The overall cost index is 91.0 vs 90.9 (national average = 100).

What salary in Erie equals $100K in Fargo?

A $100,000 salary in Fargo has the same purchasing power as $100,087 in Erie. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.

How do rents compare between Fargo and Erie?

Rents in Fargo are indexed at 81.1 while Erie is at 56.8 (national average = 100). Fargo has higher rents.

Data sources

Data sourced from official public datasets, Regional Price Parities (2024), index where national average = 100. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCost. See our methodology for details.

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.