Overall
- Kennewick-Richland
- 100.1
- Charlottesville
- 99.1
Diff -0.9 RPP
Kennewick-Richland vs Charlottesville
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Charlottesville is 0.9% less expensive than Kennewick-Richland.
0.9% less expensive
Charlottesville, VA is 0.9% less expensive than Kennewick-Richland, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 99.1 vs 100.1). A $100,000 salary in Kennewick-Richland buys about the same as $99,068 in Charlottesville; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 100.1 (Kennewick-Richland) vs 99.1 (Charlottesville)
- $100k in Kennewick-Richland ≈ $99,068 purchasing power in Charlottesville
- Rents drives the gap (+12.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:VA 100.1→99.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WA × VA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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.
Kennewick-Richland
100.1
Cost Index
Charlottesville
99.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Kennewick-Richland, WA and Charlottesville, VA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.9 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Charlottesville is 12.2 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.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Kennewick-Richland is above 100 while Charlottesville is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 Kennewick-Richland corresponds to $99,068 in Charlottesville.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Kennewick-Richland
- 105.0
- Charlottesville
- 96.8
Diff -8.3 RPP
Services
- Kennewick-Richland
- 93.6
- Charlottesville
- 89.0
Diff -4.6 RPP
Rents
- Kennewick-Richland
- 94.8
- Charlottesville
- 107.0
Diff +12.2 RPP
| Category | Kennewick-Richland | Charlottesville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 100.1 | 99.1 | -0.9 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 96.8 | -8.3 |
| Services | 93.6 | 89.0 | -4.6 |
| Rents | 94.8 | 107.0 | +12.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Kennewick-Richland 100.1
Charlottesville 99.1
Goods
Kennewick-Richland 105.0
Charlottesville 96.8
Services
Kennewick-Richland 93.6
Charlottesville 89.0
Rents
Kennewick-Richland 94.8
Charlottesville 107.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Kennewick-Richland and Charlottesville share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 5.6 to 0.9 RPP points. Kennewick-Richland remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 19.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (14.6 to 4.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Kennewick-Richland RPP | Charlottesville RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.2 | 99.7 | 5.6 points Charlottesville higher |
| 2012 | 99.3 | 98.9 | 0.5 points Kennewick-Richland higher |
| 2016 | 97.4 | 100.3 | 2.9 points Charlottesville higher |
| 2020 | 99.8 | 98.3 | 1.5 points Kennewick-Richland higher |
| 2024 | 100.1 | 99.1 | 0.9 points Kennewick-Richland 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 Kennewick-Richland would need to be in Charlottesville for the same purchasing power:
| In Kennewick-Richland | In Charlottesville | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,534 | $-466 |
| $75,000 | $74,301 | $-699 |
| $100,000 | $99,068 | $-932 |
| $150,000 | $148,602 | $-1,398 |
$ in Kennewick-Richland = in Charlottesville
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (100.1 → 99.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Charlottesville more expensive than Kennewick-Richland?
Charlottesville is 0.9% less expensive than Kennewick-Richland. The overall cost index is 99.1 vs 100.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Charlottesville equals $100K in Kennewick-Richland?
A $100,000 salary in Kennewick-Richland has the same purchasing power as $99,068 in Charlottesville. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Kennewick-Richland and Charlottesville?
Rents in Kennewick-Richland are indexed at 94.8 while Charlottesville is at 107.0 (national average = 100). Charlottesville 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.