Overall
Diff +0.5 RPP
Hagerstown-Martinsburg vs Daphne-Fairhope-Foley
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Daphne-Fairhope-Foley is 0.6% more expensive than Hagerstown-Martinsburg.
0.6% more expensive
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL is 0.6% more expensive than Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 94.7 vs 94.2). A $100,000 salary in Hagerstown-Martinsburg buys about the same as $100,551 in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 94.2 (Hagerstown-Martinsburg) vs 94.7 (Daphne-Fairhope-Foley)
- $100k in Hagerstown-Martinsburg ≈ $100,551 purchasing power in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley
- Rents drives the gap (+13.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MD:AL 94.2→94.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MD × AL
- 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.
Hagerstown-Martinsburg
94.2
Cost Index
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley
94.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV and Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Daphne-Fairhope-Foley is 13.4 points higher. But services and goods 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 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 Hagerstown-Martinsburg corresponds to $100,551 in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -0.0 RPP
Services
Diff -12.4 RPP
Rents
Diff +13.4 RPP
| Category | Hagerstown-Martinsburg | Daphne-Fairhope-Foley | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 94.2 | 94.7 | +0.5 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 96.4 | -0.0 |
| Services | 95.7 | 83.3 | -12.4 |
| Rents | 75.7 | 89.2 | +13.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Hagerstown-Martinsburg 94.2
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley 94.7
Goods
Hagerstown-Martinsburg 96.4
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley 96.4
Services
Hagerstown-Martinsburg 95.7
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley 83.3
Rents
Hagerstown-Martinsburg 75.7
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley 89.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Hagerstown-Martinsburg would need to be in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley for the same purchasing power:
| In Hagerstown-Martinsburg | In Daphne-Fairhope-Foley | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,276 | +$276 |
| $75,000 | $75,413 | +$413 |
| $100,000 | $100,551 | +$551 |
| $150,000 | $150,827 | +$827 |
$ in Hagerstown-Martinsburg = in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (94.2 → 94.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Daphne-Fairhope-Foley more expensive than Hagerstown-Martinsburg?
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley is 0.6% more expensive than Hagerstown-Martinsburg. The overall cost index is 94.7 vs 94.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley equals $100K in Hagerstown-Martinsburg?
A $100,000 salary in Hagerstown-Martinsburg has the same purchasing power as $100,551 in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Hagerstown-Martinsburg and Daphne-Fairhope-Foley?
Rents in Hagerstown-Martinsburg are indexed at 75.7 while Daphne-Fairhope-Foley is at 89.2 (national average = 100). Daphne-Fairhope-Foley 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.