Overall
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 109.4
- Lancaster
- 98.3
Diff -11.1 RPP
Kahului-Wailuku vs Lancaster
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lancaster is 10.2% less expensive than Kahului-Wailuku.
10.2% less expensive
Lancaster, PA is 10.2% less expensive than Kahului-Wailuku, HI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 109.4). A $100,000 salary in Kahului-Wailuku buys about the same as $89,820 in Lancaster; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 109.4 (Kahului-Wailuku) vs 98.3 (Lancaster)
- $100k in Kahului-Wailuku ≈ $89,820 purchasing power in Lancaster
- Services drives the gap (-83.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair HI:PA 109.4→98.3
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE HI × PA
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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
Kahului-Wailuku, HI and Lancaster, PA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 11.1 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Kahului-Wailuku is above 100 while Lancaster is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Services leads the difference, with Lancaster 83.3 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 $89,820 in Lancaster, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Kahului-Wailuku and Lancaster share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 7.3 to 11.1 RPP points. Kahului-Wailuku remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 52.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (30.8 to 83.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Kahului-Wailuku RPP | Lancaster RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 107.5 | 100.2 | 7.3 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2012 | 102.7 | 97.8 | 4.9 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2016 | 102.9 | 99.4 | 3.5 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2020 | 111.5 | 97.9 | 13.7 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2024 | 109.4 | 98.3 | 11.1 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
- Lancaster
- 100.7
Diff -10.9 RPP
Services
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 190.6
- Lancaster
- 107.3
Diff -83.3 RPP
Rents
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 119.2
- Lancaster
- 93.8
Diff -25.4 RPP
| Category | Kahului-Wailuku | Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 109.4 | 98.3 | -11.1 |
| Goods | 111.6 | 100.7 | -10.9 |
| Services | 190.6 | 107.3 | -83.3 |
| Rents | 119.2 | 93.8 | -25.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Kahului-Wailuku 109.4
Lancaster 98.3
Goods
Kahului-Wailuku 111.6
Lancaster 100.7
Services
Kahului-Wailuku 190.6
Lancaster 107.3
Rents
Kahului-Wailuku 119.2
Lancaster 93.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Kahului-Wailuku would need to be in Lancaster for the same purchasing power:
| In Kahului-Wailuku | In Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $44,910 | $-5,090 |
| $75,000 | $67,365 | $-7,635 |
| $100,000 | $89,820 | $-10,180 |
| $150,000 | $134,730 | $-15,270 |
$ in Kahului-Wailuku = in Lancaster
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (109.4 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Kahului-Wailuku
109.4
Cost Index
Lancaster
98.3
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lancaster more expensive than Kahului-Wailuku?
Lancaster is 10.2% less expensive than Kahului-Wailuku. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 109.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lancaster equals $100K in Kahului-Wailuku?
A $100,000 salary in Kahului-Wailuku has the same purchasing power as $89,820 in Lancaster. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Kahului-Wailuku and Lancaster?
Rents in Kahului-Wailuku are indexed at 119.2 while Lancaster is at 93.8 (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.