Overall
- Walla Walla
- 98.5
Diff +7.2 RPP
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers vs Walla Walla
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Walla Walla is 7.8% more expensive than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers.
7.8% more expensive
Walla Walla, WA is 7.8% more expensive than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.5 vs 91.4). A $100,000 salary in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers buys about the same as $107,844 in Walla Walla; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 91.4 (Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers) vs 98.5 (Walla Walla)
- $100k in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers ≈ $107,844 purchasing power in Walla Walla
- Services drives the gap (+19.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AR:WA 91.4→98.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE AR × WA
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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
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.
Walla Walla, WA is 7.8% more expensive than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 7.2-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Walla Walla 19.2 points higher than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers. 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 Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers to $107,844 in Walla Walla, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers and Walla Walla share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 3.0 to 7.2 RPP points. Walla Walla remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 36.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (17.2 to 19.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers RPP | Walla Walla RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 92.6 | 95.6 | 3.0 points Walla Walla higher |
| 2012 | 94.3 | 95.1 | 0.9 points Walla Walla higher |
| 2016 | 94.3 | 96.3 | 2.0 points Walla Walla higher |
| 2020 | 92.7 | 95.2 | 2.5 points Walla Walla higher |
| 2024 | 91.4 | 98.5 | 7.2 points Walla Walla 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
- Walla Walla
- 105.0
Diff +11.5 RPP
Services
- Walla Walla
- 94.3
Diff +19.2 RPP
Rents
- Walla Walla
- 86.6
Diff +9.7 RPP
| Category | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers | Walla Walla | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.4 | 98.5 | +7.2 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 105.0 | +11.5 |
| Services | 75.1 | 94.3 | +19.2 |
| Rents | 76.9 | 86.6 | +9.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 91.4
Walla Walla 98.5
Goods
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 93.6
Walla Walla 105.0
Services
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 75.1
Walla Walla 94.3
Rents
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 76.9
Walla Walla 86.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers would need to be in Walla Walla for the same purchasing power:
| In Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers | In Walla Walla | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,922 | +$3,922 |
| $75,000 | $80,883 | +$5,883 |
| $100,000 | $107,844 | +$7,844 |
| $150,000 | $161,766 | +$11,766 |
$ in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers = in Walla Walla
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.4 → 98.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers
91.4
Cost Index
Walla Walla
98.5
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Walla Walla more expensive than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers?
Walla Walla is 7.8% more expensive than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers. The overall cost index is 98.5 vs 91.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Walla Walla equals $100K in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers?
A $100,000 salary in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers has the same purchasing power as $107,844 in Walla Walla. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers and Walla Walla?
Rents in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers are indexed at 76.9 while Walla Walla is at 86.6 (national average = 100). Walla Walla 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.