Overall
Diff -1.3 RPP
Fresno vs Ann Arbor
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Ann Arbor is 1.3% less expensive than Fresno.
1.3% less expensive
Ann Arbor, MI is 1.3% less expensive than Fresno, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.9 vs 102.2). A $100,000 salary in Fresno buys about the same as $98,749 in Ann Arbor; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 102.2 (Fresno) vs 100.9 (Ann Arbor)
- $100k in Fresno ≈ $98,749 purchasing power in Ann Arbor
- Services drives the gap (-62.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:MI 102.2→100.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE CA × MI
- 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.
Fresno
102.2
Cost Index
Ann Arbor
100.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Fresno, CA and Ann Arbor, MI are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Ann Arbor is 62.8 points lower. 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 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.
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 Fresno to $98,749 in Ann Arbor, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -11.5 RPP
Services
Diff -62.8 RPP
Rents
Diff +29.6 RPP
| Category | Fresno | Ann Arbor | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 102.2 | 100.9 | -1.3 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 93.7 | -11.5 |
| Services | 161.0 | 98.2 | -62.8 |
| Rents | 95.7 | 125.3 | +29.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fresno 102.2
Ann Arbor 100.9
Goods
Fresno 105.2
Ann Arbor 93.7
Services
Fresno 161.0
Ann Arbor 98.2
Rents
Fresno 95.7
Ann Arbor 125.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Fresno and Ann Arbor share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 6.4 to 1.3 RPP points. Fresno remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 62.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (0.8 to 62.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Fresno RPP | Ann Arbor RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.2 | 103.6 | 6.4 points Ann Arbor higher |
| 2012 | 100.4 | 100.9 | 0.5 points Ann Arbor higher |
| 2016 | 96.2 | 98.4 | 2.2 points Ann Arbor higher |
| 2020 | 100.3 | 98.6 | 1.8 points Fresno higher |
| 2024 | 102.2 | 100.9 | 1.3 points Fresno 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fresno would need to be in Ann Arbor for the same purchasing power:
| In Fresno | In Ann Arbor | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,374 | $-626 |
| $75,000 | $74,062 | $-938 |
| $100,000 | $98,749 | $-1,251 |
| $150,000 | $148,123 | $-1,877 |
$ in Fresno = in Ann Arbor
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (102.2 → 100.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ann Arbor more expensive than Fresno?
Ann Arbor is 1.3% less expensive than Fresno. The overall cost index is 100.9 vs 102.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Ann Arbor equals $100K in Fresno?
A $100,000 salary in Fresno has the same purchasing power as $98,749 in Ann Arbor. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fresno and Ann Arbor?
Rents in Fresno are indexed at 95.7 while Ann Arbor is at 125.3 (national average = 100). Ann Arbor 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.