Overall
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 109.4
- Fairbanks-College
- 103.2
Diff -6.2 RPP
Kahului-Wailuku vs Fairbanks-College
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Fairbanks-College is 5.7% less expensive than Kahului-Wailuku.
5.7% less expensive
Fairbanks-College, AK is 5.7% less expensive than Kahului-Wailuku, HI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.2 vs 109.4). A $100,000 salary in Kahului-Wailuku buys about the same as $94,346 in Fairbanks-College; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 109.4 (Kahului-Wailuku) vs 103.2 (Fairbanks-College)
- $100k in Kahului-Wailuku ≈ $94,346 purchasing power in Fairbanks-College
- Services drives the gap (-70.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair HI:AK 109.4→103.2
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE HI × AK
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Fairbanks-College, AK is 5.7% less expensive than Kahului-Wailuku, HI, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.2-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Fairbanks-College 70.8 points lower than Kahului-Wailuku. 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 Kahului-Wailuku to $94,346 in Fairbanks-College, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Kahului-Wailuku and Fairbanks-College share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 2.8 to 6.2 RPP points. Kahului-Wailuku remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 28.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (42.2 to 70.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Kahului-Wailuku RPP | Fairbanks-College RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 107.5 | 104.7 | 2.8 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2012 | 102.7 | 97.9 | 4.7 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2016 | 102.9 | 100.4 | 2.4 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2020 | 111.5 | 99.4 | 12.2 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2024 | 109.4 | 103.2 | 6.2 points Kahului-Wailuku 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
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 111.6
- Fairbanks-College
- 107.3
Diff -4.2 RPP
Services
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 190.6
- Fairbanks-College
- 119.8
Diff -70.8 RPP
Rents
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 119.2
- Fairbanks-College
- 92.6
Diff -26.6 RPP
| Category | Kahului-Wailuku | Fairbanks-College | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 109.4 | 103.2 | -6.2 |
| Goods | 111.6 | 107.3 | -4.2 |
| Services | 190.6 | 119.8 | -70.8 |
| Rents | 119.2 | 92.6 | -26.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Kahului-Wailuku 109.4
Fairbanks-College 103.2
Goods
Kahului-Wailuku 111.6
Fairbanks-College 107.3
Services
Kahului-Wailuku 190.6
Fairbanks-College 119.8
Rents
Kahului-Wailuku 119.2
Fairbanks-College 92.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Kahului-Wailuku would need to be in Fairbanks-College for the same purchasing power:
| In Kahului-Wailuku | In Fairbanks-College | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,173 | $-2,827 |
| $75,000 | $70,760 | $-4,240 |
| $100,000 | $94,346 | $-5,654 |
| $150,000 | $141,519 | $-8,481 |
$ in Kahului-Wailuku = in Fairbanks-College
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (109.4 → 103.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Kahului-Wailuku
109.4
Cost Index
Fairbanks-College
103.2
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fairbanks-College more expensive than Kahului-Wailuku?
Fairbanks-College is 5.7% less expensive than Kahului-Wailuku. The overall cost index is 103.2 vs 109.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Fairbanks-College equals $100K in Kahului-Wailuku?
A $100,000 salary in Kahului-Wailuku has the same purchasing power as $94,346 in Fairbanks-College. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Kahului-Wailuku and Fairbanks-College?
Rents in Kahului-Wailuku are indexed at 119.2 while Fairbanks-College is at 92.6 (national average = 100). Kahului-Wailuku 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.