Overall
- Grand Forks
- 86.7
- Parkersburg-Vienna
- 87.1
Diff +0.4 RPP
Grand Forks vs Parkersburg-Vienna
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Parkersburg-Vienna is 0.5% more expensive than Grand Forks.
0.5% more expensive
Parkersburg-Vienna, WV is 0.5% more expensive than Grand Forks, ND-MN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.1 vs 86.7). A $100,000 salary in Grand Forks buys about the same as $100,465 in Parkersburg-Vienna; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 86.7 (Grand Forks) vs 87.1 (Parkersburg-Vienna)
- $100k in Grand Forks ≈ $100,465 purchasing power in Parkersburg-Vienna
- Services drives the gap (+15.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ND:WV 86.7→87.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE ND × WV
- 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.
Grand Forks
86.7
Cost Index
Parkersburg-Vienna
87.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Grand Forks, ND-MN and Parkersburg-Vienna, WV are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Parkersburg-Vienna is 15.8 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 Grand Forks to $100,465 in Parkersburg-Vienna, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Grand Forks
- 95.6
- Parkersburg-Vienna
- 96.3
Diff +0.6 RPP
Services
- Grand Forks
- 77.1
- Parkersburg-Vienna
- 92.9
Diff +15.8 RPP
Rents
- Grand Forks
- 59.7
- Parkersburg-Vienna
- 45.9
Diff -13.8 RPP
| Category | Grand Forks | Parkersburg-Vienna | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.7 | 87.1 | +0.4 |
| Goods | 95.6 | 96.3 | +0.6 |
| Services | 77.1 | 92.9 | +15.8 |
| Rents | 59.7 | 45.9 | -13.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Grand Forks 86.7
Parkersburg-Vienna 87.1
Goods
Grand Forks 95.6
Parkersburg-Vienna 96.3
Services
Grand Forks 77.1
Parkersburg-Vienna 92.9
Rents
Grand Forks 59.7
Parkersburg-Vienna 45.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Grand Forks and Parkersburg-Vienna share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 8.6 to 0.4 RPP points. Parkersburg-Vienna remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 22.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (6.5 to 15.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Grand Forks RPP | Parkersburg-Vienna RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.6 | 87.0 | 8.6 points Grand Forks higher |
| 2012 | 89.7 | 91.6 | 1.9 points Parkersburg-Vienna higher |
| 2016 | 92.2 | 92.7 | 0.5 points Parkersburg-Vienna higher |
| 2020 | 91.2 | 86.2 | 5.1 points Grand Forks higher |
| 2024 | 86.7 | 87.1 | 0.4 points Parkersburg-Vienna 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 Grand Forks would need to be in Parkersburg-Vienna for the same purchasing power:
| In Grand Forks | In Parkersburg-Vienna | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,233 | +$233 |
| $75,000 | $75,349 | +$349 |
| $100,000 | $100,465 | +$465 |
| $150,000 | $150,698 | +$698 |
$ in Grand Forks = in Parkersburg-Vienna
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.7 → 87.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Parkersburg-Vienna more expensive than Grand Forks?
Parkersburg-Vienna is 0.5% more expensive than Grand Forks. The overall cost index is 87.1 vs 86.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Parkersburg-Vienna equals $100K in Grand Forks?
A $100,000 salary in Grand Forks has the same purchasing power as $100,465 in Parkersburg-Vienna. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Grand Forks and Parkersburg-Vienna?
Rents in Grand Forks are indexed at 59.7 while Parkersburg-Vienna is at 45.9 (national average = 100). Grand Forks 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.