Overall
- Kennewick-Richland
- 100.1
- Lancaster
- 98.3
Diff -1.8 RPP
Kennewick-Richland vs Lancaster
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lancaster is 1.8% less expensive than Kennewick-Richland.
1.8% less expensive
Lancaster, PA is 1.8% less expensive than Kennewick-Richland, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 100.1). A $100,000 salary in Kennewick-Richland buys about the same as $98,179 in Lancaster; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 100.1 (Kennewick-Richland) vs 98.3 (Lancaster)
- $100k in Kennewick-Richland ≈ $98,179 purchasing power in Lancaster
- Services drives the gap (+13.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:PA 100.1→98.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WA × PA
- 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
Lancaster
98.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Kennewick-Richland, WA and Lancaster, PA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.8 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Lancaster is 13.7 points higher. But services 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 Lancaster is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 Kennewick-Richland to $98,179 in Lancaster, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Kennewick-Richland
- 105.0
- Lancaster
- 100.7
Diff -4.3 RPP
Services
- Kennewick-Richland
- 93.6
- Lancaster
- 107.3
Diff +13.7 RPP
Rents
- Kennewick-Richland
- 94.8
- Lancaster
- 93.8
Diff -1.0 RPP
| Category | Kennewick-Richland | Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 100.1 | 98.3 | -1.8 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 100.7 | -4.3 |
| Services | 93.6 | 107.3 | +13.7 |
| Rents | 94.8 | 93.8 | -1.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Kennewick-Richland 100.1
Lancaster 98.3
Goods
Kennewick-Richland 105.0
Lancaster 100.7
Services
Kennewick-Richland 93.6
Lancaster 107.3
Rents
Kennewick-Richland 94.8
Lancaster 93.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Kennewick-Richland would need to be in Lancaster for the same purchasing power:
| In Kennewick-Richland | In Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,090 | $-910 |
| $75,000 | $73,635 | $-1,365 |
| $100,000 | $98,179 | $-1,821 |
| $150,000 | $147,269 | $-2,731 |
$ in Kennewick-Richland = in Lancaster
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (100.1 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lancaster more expensive than Kennewick-Richland?
Lancaster is 1.8% less expensive than Kennewick-Richland. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 100.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lancaster equals $100K in Kennewick-Richland?
A $100,000 salary in Kennewick-Richland has the same purchasing power as $98,179 in Lancaster. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Kennewick-Richland and Lancaster?
Rents in Kennewick-Richland are indexed at 94.8 while Lancaster is at 93.8 (national average = 100). Kennewick-Richland 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.