Overall
- Albuquerque
- 95.5
Diff 0.0 RPP
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood vs Albuquerque
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Albuquerque is 0% equally expensive than Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood.
0% equally expensive
Albuquerque, NM is 0% equally expensive than Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 95.5 vs 95.5). A $100,000 salary in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood buys about the same as $100,000 in Albuquerque; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 95.5 (Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood) vs 95.5 (Albuquerque)
- $100k in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood ≈ $100,000 purchasing power in Albuquerque
- Services drives the gap (-15.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MI:NM 95.5→95.5
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MI × NM
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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 Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood
95.5
Cost Index
Albuquerque
95.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI and Albuquerque, NM are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.0 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with Albuquerque 15.9 points lower than Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood. 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.
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 Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood to $100,000 in Albuquerque, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Albuquerque
- 96.1
Diff +2.4 RPP
Services
- Albuquerque
- 77.9
Diff -15.9 RPP
Rents
- Albuquerque
- 89.2
Diff +2.6 RPP
| Category | Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood | Albuquerque | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 95.5 | 95.5 | 0.0 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 96.1 | +2.4 |
| Services | 93.8 | 77.9 | -15.9 |
| Rents | 86.6 | 89.2 | +2.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 95.5
Albuquerque 95.5
Goods
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 93.7
Albuquerque 96.1
Services
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 93.8
Albuquerque 77.9
Rents
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 86.6
Albuquerque 89.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood and Albuquerque share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 1.4 to 0.0 RPP points. The latest release puts their overall indexes at the same level.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 7.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (8.2 to 15.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood RPP | Albuquerque RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.6 | 97.0 | 1.4 points Albuquerque higher |
| 2012 | 94.7 | 99.6 | 4.9 points Albuquerque higher |
| 2016 | 94.2 | 96.6 | 2.4 points Albuquerque higher |
| 2020 | 94.3 | 94.2 | 0.1 points Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood higher |
| 2024 | 95.5 | 95.5 | Even |
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 Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood would need to be in Albuquerque for the same purchasing power:
| In Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood | In Albuquerque | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,000 | $0 |
| $75,000 | $75,000 | $0 |
| $100,000 | $100,000 | $0 |
| $150,000 | $150,000 | $0 |
$ in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood = in Albuquerque
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (95.5 → 95.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Reverse: Albuquerque → Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood Details
Albuquerque Details
Also Compare
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Albuquerque more expensive than Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood?
Albuquerque is 0% equally expensive than Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood. The overall cost index is 95.5 vs 95.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Albuquerque equals $100K in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood?
A $100,000 salary in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood has the same purchasing power as $100,000 in Albuquerque. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood and Albuquerque?
Rents in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood are indexed at 86.6 while Albuquerque is at 89.2 (national average = 100). Albuquerque 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.