Overall
Diff +17.7 RPP
Johnstown vs Salem
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Salem is 20.6% more expensive than Johnstown.
20.6% more expensive
Salem, OR is 20.6% more expensive than Johnstown, PA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 85.9). A $100,000 salary in Johnstown buys about the same as $120,622 in Salem; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 85.9 (Johnstown) vs 103.6 (Salem)
- $100k in Johnstown ≈ $120,622 purchasing power in Salem
- Rents drives the gap (+68.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair PA:OR 85.9→103.6
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE PA × OR
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-STEEP Steep PP convert
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
Diff +4.6 RPP
Services
Diff -4.2 RPP
Rents
Diff +68.0 RPP
| Category | Johnstown | Salem | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.9 | 103.6 | +17.7 |
| Goods | 100.7 | 105.3 | +4.6 |
| Services | 108.9 | 104.7 | -4.2 |
| Rents | 42.3 | 110.3 | +68.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Johnstown 85.9
Salem 103.6
Goods
Johnstown 100.7
Salem 105.3
Services
Johnstown 108.9
Salem 104.7
Rents
Johnstown 42.3
Salem 110.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Salem is 68.0 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Johnstown, PA and Salem, OR sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 17.7 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Salem is above 100 while Johnstown is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 Johnstown corresponds to $120,622 in Salem.
Johnstown
85.9
Cost Index
Salem
103.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Johnstown would need to be in Salem for the same purchasing power:
| In Johnstown | In Salem | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $60,311 | +$10,311 |
| $75,000 | $90,466 | +$15,466 |
| $100,000 | $120,622 | +$20,622 |
| $150,000 | $180,933 | +$30,933 |
$ in Johnstown = in Salem
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.9 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Johnstown and Salem share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 3.4 to 17.7 RPP points. Salem remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 36.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (31.5 to 68.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Johnstown RPP | Salem RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 90.7 | 94.1 | 3.4 points Salem higher |
| 2012 | 86.8 | 101.1 | 14.2 points Salem higher |
| 2016 | 88.7 | 97.1 | 8.4 points Salem higher |
| 2020 | 87.6 | 100.9 | 13.4 points Salem higher |
| 2024 | 85.9 | 103.6 | 17.7 points Salem 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 Salem more expensive than Johnstown?
Salem is 20.6% more expensive than Johnstown. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 85.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Salem equals $100K in Johnstown?
A $100,000 salary in Johnstown has the same purchasing power as $120,622 in Salem. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Johnstown and Salem?
Rents in Johnstown are indexed at 42.3 while Salem is at 110.3 (national average = 100). Salem 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.