Overall
- Fort Collins-Loveland
- 101.1
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 103.7
Diff +2.5 RPP
Fort Collins-Loveland vs Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 2.5% more expensive than Fort Collins-Loveland.
2.5% more expensive
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA is 2.5% more expensive than Fort Collins-Loveland, CO on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.7 vs 101.1). A $100,000 salary in Fort Collins-Loveland buys about the same as $102,514 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 101.1 (Fort Collins-Loveland) vs 103.7 (Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater)
- $100k in Fort Collins-Loveland ≈ $102,514 purchasing power in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- Services drives the gap (+9.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CO:WA 101.1→103.7
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE CO × WA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 105.0
Diff +9.0 RPP
Services
Diff +9.5 RPP
Rents
- Fort Collins-Loveland
- 120.6
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 116.7
Diff -3.9 RPP
| Category | Fort Collins-Loveland | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 101.1 | 103.7 | +2.5 |
| Goods | 96.1 | 105.0 | +9.0 |
| Services | 82.2 | 91.7 | +9.5 |
| Rents | 120.6 | 116.7 | -3.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fort Collins-Loveland 101.1
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 103.7
Goods
Fort Collins-Loveland 96.1
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 105.0
Services
Fort Collins-Loveland 82.2
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 91.7
Rents
Fort Collins-Loveland 120.6
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 116.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 9.5 points higher. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA is 2.5% more expensive than Fort Collins-Loveland, CO, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.5-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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Fort Collins-Loveland to $102,514 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Fort Collins-Loveland
101.1
Cost Index
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
103.7
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fort Collins-Loveland would need to be in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater for the same purchasing power:
| In Fort Collins-Loveland | In Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,257 | +$1,257 |
| $75,000 | $76,885 | +$1,885 |
| $100,000 | $102,514 | +$2,514 |
| $150,000 | $153,770 | +$3,770 |
$ in Fort Collins-Loveland = in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (101.1 → 103.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Fort Collins-Loveland and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 8.2 to 2.5 RPP points. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 16.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (12.1 to 3.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Fort Collins-Loveland RPP | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.2 | 105.4 | 8.2 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2012 | 104.7 | 101.3 | 3.4 points Fort Collins-Loveland higher |
| 2016 | 101.4 | 106.0 | 4.7 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2020 | 98.5 | 101.9 | 3.4 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2024 | 101.1 | 103.7 | 2.5 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 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 Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater more expensive than Fort Collins-Loveland?
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 2.5% more expensive than Fort Collins-Loveland. The overall cost index is 103.7 vs 101.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater equals $100K in Fort Collins-Loveland?
A $100,000 salary in Fort Collins-Loveland has the same purchasing power as $102,514 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fort Collins-Loveland and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater?
Rents in Fort Collins-Loveland are indexed at 120.6 while Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is at 116.7 (national average = 100). Fort Collins-Loveland 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.