Overall
- Fort Collins-Loveland
- 101.1
- Walla Walla
- 98.5
Diff -2.6 RPP
Fort Collins-Loveland vs Walla Walla
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Walla Walla is 2.6% less expensive than Fort Collins-Loveland.
2.6% less expensive
Walla Walla, WA is 2.6% less expensive than Fort Collins-Loveland, CO on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.5 vs 101.1). A $100,000 salary in Fort Collins-Loveland buys about the same as $97,420 in Walla Walla; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 101.1 (Fort Collins-Loveland) vs 98.5 (Walla Walla)
- $100k in Fort Collins-Loveland ≈ $97,420 purchasing power in Walla Walla
- Rents drives the gap (-34.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CO:WA 101.1→98.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE CO × WA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Walla Walla
- 105.0
Diff +9.0 RPP
Services
- Walla Walla
- 94.3
Diff +12.2 RPP
Rents
- Fort Collins-Loveland
- 120.6
- Walla Walla
- 86.6
Diff -34.0 RPP
| Category | Fort Collins-Loveland | Walla Walla | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 101.1 | 98.5 | -2.6 |
| Goods | 96.1 | 105.0 | +9.0 |
| Services | 82.2 | 94.3 | +12.2 |
| Rents | 120.6 | 86.6 | -34.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fort Collins-Loveland 101.1
Walla Walla 98.5
Goods
Fort Collins-Loveland 96.1
Walla Walla 105.0
Services
Fort Collins-Loveland 82.2
Walla Walla 94.3
Rents
Fort Collins-Loveland 120.6
Walla Walla 86.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Walla Walla is 34.0 points lower. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Walla Walla, WA is 2.6% less expensive than Fort Collins-Loveland, CO, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.6-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Fort Collins-Loveland is above 100 while Walla Walla is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 Fort Collins-Loveland corresponds to $97,420 in Walla Walla.
Fort Collins-Loveland
101.1
Cost Index
Walla Walla
98.5
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fort Collins-Loveland would need to be in Walla Walla for the same purchasing power:
| In Fort Collins-Loveland | In Walla Walla | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,710 | $-1,290 |
| $75,000 | $73,065 | $-1,935 |
| $100,000 | $97,420 | $-2,580 |
| $150,000 | $146,130 | $-3,870 |
$ in Fort Collins-Loveland = in Walla Walla
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (101.1 → 98.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Fort Collins-Loveland and Walla Walla share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 1.6 to 2.6 RPP points. Fort Collins-Loveland remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 24.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (12.1 to 12.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Fort Collins-Loveland RPP | Walla Walla RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.2 | 95.6 | 1.6 points Fort Collins-Loveland higher |
| 2012 | 104.7 | 95.1 | 9.6 points Fort Collins-Loveland higher |
| 2016 | 101.4 | 96.3 | 5.1 points Fort Collins-Loveland higher |
| 2020 | 98.5 | 95.2 | 3.3 points Fort Collins-Loveland higher |
| 2024 | 101.1 | 98.5 | 2.6 points Fort Collins-Loveland 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 Walla Walla more expensive than Fort Collins-Loveland?
Walla Walla is 2.6% less expensive than Fort Collins-Loveland. The overall cost index is 98.5 vs 101.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Walla Walla equals $100K in Fort Collins-Loveland?
A $100,000 salary in Fort Collins-Loveland has the same purchasing power as $97,420 in Walla Walla. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fort Collins-Loveland and Walla Walla?
Rents in Fort Collins-Loveland are indexed at 120.6 while Walla Walla is at 86.6 (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.