Overall
- Harrisonburg
- 94.9
Diff -0.2 RPP
Harrisonburg vs San Antonio-New Braunfels
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. San Antonio-New Braunfels is 0.2% less expensive than Harrisonburg.
0.2% less expensive
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX is 0.2% less expensive than Harrisonburg, VA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 94.7 vs 94.9). A $100,000 salary in Harrisonburg buys about the same as $99,815 in San Antonio-New Braunfels; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 94.9 (Harrisonburg) vs 94.7 (San Antonio-New Braunfels)
- $100k in Harrisonburg ≈ $99,815 purchasing power in San Antonio-New Braunfels
- Rents drives the gap (+12.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair VA:TX 94.9→94.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE VA × TX
- 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.
Harrisonburg
94.9
Cost Index
San Antonio-New Braunfels
94.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Harrisonburg, VA and San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: San Antonio-New Braunfels is 12.3 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 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 Harrisonburg corresponds to $99,815 in San Antonio-New Braunfels.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Harrisonburg
- 96.8
Diff -3.0 RPP
Services
- Harrisonburg
- 88.5
Diff -6.4 RPP
Rents
- Harrisonburg
- 82.3
Diff +12.3 RPP
| Category | Harrisonburg | San Antonio-New Braunfels | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 94.9 | 94.7 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 96.8 | 93.8 | -3.0 |
| Services | 88.5 | 82.2 | -6.4 |
| Rents | 82.3 | 94.6 | +12.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Harrisonburg 94.9
San Antonio-New Braunfels 94.7
Goods
Harrisonburg 96.8
San Antonio-New Braunfels 93.8
Services
Harrisonburg 88.5
San Antonio-New Braunfels 82.2
Rents
Harrisonburg 82.3
San Antonio-New Braunfels 94.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Harrisonburg and San Antonio-New Braunfels share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 4.0 to 0.2 RPP points. Harrisonburg remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 24.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (18.5 to 6.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Harrisonburg RPP | San Antonio-New Braunfels RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 92.1 | 96.1 | 4.0 points San Antonio-New Braunfels higher |
| 2012 | 92.4 | 97.4 | 5.0 points San Antonio-New Braunfels higher |
| 2016 | 91.2 | 98.3 | 7.0 points San Antonio-New Braunfels higher |
| 2020 | 90.4 | 96.8 | 6.4 points San Antonio-New Braunfels higher |
| 2024 | 94.9 | 94.7 | 0.2 points Harrisonburg 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 Harrisonburg would need to be in San Antonio-New Braunfels for the same purchasing power:
| In Harrisonburg | In San Antonio-New Braunfels | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,907 | $-93 |
| $75,000 | $74,861 | $-139 |
| $100,000 | $99,815 | $-185 |
| $150,000 | $149,722 | $-278 |
$ in Harrisonburg = in San Antonio-New Braunfels
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (94.9 → 94.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is San Antonio-New Braunfels more expensive than Harrisonburg?
San Antonio-New Braunfels is 0.2% less expensive than Harrisonburg. The overall cost index is 94.7 vs 94.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in San Antonio-New Braunfels equals $100K in Harrisonburg?
A $100,000 salary in Harrisonburg has the same purchasing power as $99,815 in San Antonio-New Braunfels. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Harrisonburg and San Antonio-New Braunfels?
Rents in Harrisonburg are indexed at 82.3 while San Antonio-New Braunfels is at 94.6 (national average = 100). San Antonio-New Braunfels 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.