Overall
- Ithaca
- 103.3
Diff -3.3 RPP
Ithaca vs Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell is 3.2% less expensive than Ithaca.
3.2% less expensive
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA is 3.2% less expensive than Ithaca, NY on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.1 vs 103.3). A $100,000 salary in Ithaca buys about the same as $96,846 in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 103.3 (Ithaca) vs 100.1 (Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell)
- $100k in Ithaca ≈ $96,846 purchasing power in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
- Services drives the gap (-35.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NY:GA 103.3→100.1
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NY × GA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 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
- Ithaca
- 99.7
Diff +0.7 RPP
Services
- Ithaca
- 131.6
Diff -35.4 RPP
Rents
- Ithaca
- 128.4
Diff -17.4 RPP
| Category | Ithaca | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.3 | 100.1 | -3.3 |
| Goods | 99.7 | 100.4 | +0.7 |
| Services | 131.6 | 96.2 | -35.4 |
| Rents | 128.4 | 111.0 | -17.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Ithaca 103.3
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 100.1
Goods
Ithaca 99.7
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 100.4
Services
Ithaca 131.6
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 96.2
Rents
Ithaca 128.4
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 111.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell is 35.4 points lower. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA is 3.2% less expensive than Ithaca, NY, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.3-point overall gap.
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
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 Ithaca to $96,846 in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Ithaca
103.3
Cost Index
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
100.1
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Ithaca would need to be in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell for the same purchasing power:
| In Ithaca | In Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,423 | $-1,577 |
| $75,000 | $72,634 | $-2,366 |
| $100,000 | $96,846 | $-3,154 |
| $150,000 | $145,268 | $-4,732 |
$ in Ithaca = in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.3 → 100.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Ithaca and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 2.1 to 3.3 RPP points. Ithaca remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 28.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (10.9 to 17.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Ithaca RPP | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 100.2 | 98.1 | 2.1 points Ithaca higher |
| 2012 | 101.9 | 99.2 | 2.7 points Ithaca higher |
| 2016 | 102.0 | 98.4 | 3.6 points Ithaca higher |
| 2020 | 101.3 | 98.7 | 2.6 points Ithaca higher |
| 2024 | 103.3 | 100.1 | 3.3 points Ithaca 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 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell more expensive than Ithaca?
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell is 3.2% less expensive than Ithaca. The overall cost index is 100.1 vs 103.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell equals $100K in Ithaca?
A $100,000 salary in Ithaca has the same purchasing power as $96,846 in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Ithaca and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell?
Rents in Ithaca are indexed at 128.4 while Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell is at 111.0 (national average = 100). Ithaca 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.