Overall
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 98.7
Diff -5.9 RPP
Harrisburg-Carlisle vs Slidell-Mandeville-Covington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Slidell-Mandeville-Covington is 6% less expensive than Harrisburg-Carlisle.
6% less expensive
Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA is 6% less expensive than Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.7 vs 98.7). A $100,000 salary in Harrisburg-Carlisle buys about the same as $93,995 in Slidell-Mandeville-Covington; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.7 (Harrisburg-Carlisle) vs 92.7 (Slidell-Mandeville-Covington)
- $100k in Harrisburg-Carlisle ≈ $93,995 purchasing power in Slidell-Mandeville-Covington
- Services drives the gap (-36.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair PA:LA 98.7→92.7
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE PA × LA
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA is 6% less expensive than Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.9-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Slidell-Mandeville-Covington 36.4 points lower than Harrisburg-Carlisle. 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.
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 Harrisburg-Carlisle to $93,995 in Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Harrisburg-Carlisle and Slidell-Mandeville-Covington share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 2.2 to 5.9 RPP points. Harrisburg-Carlisle remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 18.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (7.5 to 10.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Harrisburg-Carlisle RPP | Slidell-Mandeville-Covington RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.0 | 96.7 | 2.2 points Harrisburg-Carlisle higher |
| 2012 | 97.0 | 97.6 | 0.6 points Slidell-Mandeville-Covington higher |
| 2016 | 98.2 | 98.7 | 0.5 points Slidell-Mandeville-Covington higher |
| 2020 | 96.1 | 95.7 | 0.5 points Harrisburg-Carlisle higher |
| 2024 | 98.7 | 92.7 | 5.9 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 100.7
Diff -7.0 RPP
Services
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 108.1
Diff -36.4 RPP
Rents
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 96.3
Diff -10.8 RPP
| Category | Harrisburg-Carlisle | Slidell-Mandeville-Covington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.7 | 92.7 | -5.9 |
| Goods | 100.7 | 93.7 | -7.0 |
| Services | 108.1 | 71.7 | -36.4 |
| Rents | 96.3 | 85.4 | -10.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Harrisburg-Carlisle 98.7
Slidell-Mandeville-Covington 92.7
Goods
Harrisburg-Carlisle 100.7
Slidell-Mandeville-Covington 93.7
Services
Harrisburg-Carlisle 108.1
Slidell-Mandeville-Covington 71.7
Rents
Harrisburg-Carlisle 96.3
Slidell-Mandeville-Covington 85.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Harrisburg-Carlisle would need to be in Slidell-Mandeville-Covington for the same purchasing power:
| In Harrisburg-Carlisle | In Slidell-Mandeville-Covington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,997 | $-3,003 |
| $75,000 | $70,496 | $-4,504 |
| $100,000 | $93,995 | $-6,005 |
| $150,000 | $140,992 | $-9,008 |
$ in Harrisburg-Carlisle = in Slidell-Mandeville-Covington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.7 → 92.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Harrisburg-Carlisle
98.7
Cost Index
Slidell-Mandeville-Covington
92.7
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Slidell-Mandeville-Covington more expensive than Harrisburg-Carlisle?
Slidell-Mandeville-Covington is 6% less expensive than Harrisburg-Carlisle. The overall cost index is 92.7 vs 98.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Slidell-Mandeville-Covington equals $100K in Harrisburg-Carlisle?
A $100,000 salary in Harrisburg-Carlisle has the same purchasing power as $93,995 in Slidell-Mandeville-Covington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Harrisburg-Carlisle and Slidell-Mandeville-Covington?
Rents in Harrisburg-Carlisle are indexed at 96.3 while Slidell-Mandeville-Covington is at 85.4 (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.