Overall
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 98.7
Diff -5.1 RPP
Harrisburg-Carlisle vs Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Scranton--Wilkes-Barre is 5.2% less expensive than Harrisburg-Carlisle.
5.2% less expensive
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA is 5.2% less expensive than Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.6 vs 98.7). A $100,000 salary in Harrisburg-Carlisle buys about the same as $94,836 in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.7 (Harrisburg-Carlisle) vs 93.6 (Scranton--Wilkes-Barre)
- $100k in Harrisburg-Carlisle ≈ $94,836 purchasing power in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
- Rents drives the gap (-29.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair PA:PA 98.7→93.6
TIER-NEAR · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- SAME-STATE Same state · PA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 100.7
- Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
- 100.7
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 108.1
- Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
- 106.5
Diff -1.5 RPP
Rents
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 96.3
Diff -29.3 RPP
| Category | Harrisburg-Carlisle | Scranton--Wilkes-Barre | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.7 | 93.6 | -5.1 |
| Goods | 100.7 | 100.7 | 0.0 |
| Services | 108.1 | 106.5 | -1.5 |
| Rents | 96.3 | 67.0 | -29.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Harrisburg-Carlisle 98.7
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 93.6
Goods
Harrisburg-Carlisle 100.7
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 100.7
Services
Harrisburg-Carlisle 108.1
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 106.5
Rents
Harrisburg-Carlisle 96.3
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 67.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Scranton--Wilkes-Barre is 29.3 points lower. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA is 5.2% less expensive than Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.1-point overall gap.
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.
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 Harrisburg-Carlisle corresponds to $94,836 in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre.
Harrisburg-Carlisle
98.7
Cost Index
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
93.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Harrisburg-Carlisle would need to be in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre for the same purchasing power:
| In Harrisburg-Carlisle | In Scranton--Wilkes-Barre | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,418 | $-2,582 |
| $75,000 | $71,127 | $-3,873 |
| $100,000 | $94,836 | $-5,164 |
| $150,000 | $142,254 | $-7,746 |
$ in Harrisburg-Carlisle = in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.7 → 93.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Harrisburg-Carlisle and Scranton--Wilkes-Barre share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 3.9 to 5.1 RPP points. Harrisburg-Carlisle remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 10.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (18.4 to 29.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Harrisburg-Carlisle RPP | Scranton--Wilkes-Barre RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.0 | 95.1 | 3.9 points Harrisburg-Carlisle higher |
| 2012 | 97.0 | 94.0 | 3.0 points Harrisburg-Carlisle higher |
| 2016 | 98.2 | 94.8 | 3.3 points Harrisburg-Carlisle higher |
| 2020 | 96.1 | 93.1 | 3.1 points Harrisburg-Carlisle higher |
| 2024 | 98.7 | 93.6 | 5.1 points Harrisburg-Carlisle 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 Scranton--Wilkes-Barre more expensive than Harrisburg-Carlisle?
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre is 5.2% less expensive than Harrisburg-Carlisle. The overall cost index is 93.6 vs 98.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre equals $100K in Harrisburg-Carlisle?
A $100,000 salary in Harrisburg-Carlisle has the same purchasing power as $94,836 in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Harrisburg-Carlisle and Scranton--Wilkes-Barre?
Rents in Harrisburg-Carlisle are indexed at 96.3 while Scranton--Wilkes-Barre is at 67.0 (national average = 100). Harrisburg-Carlisle 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.