Overall
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 103.7
Diff +6.5 RPP
Lakeland-Winter Haven vs Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 6.7% more expensive than Lakeland-Winter Haven.
6.7% more expensive
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA is 6.7% more expensive than Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.7 vs 97.1). A $100,000 salary in Lakeland-Winter Haven buys about the same as $106,721 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 97.1 (Lakeland-Winter Haven) vs 103.7 (Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater)
- $100k in Lakeland-Winter Haven ≈ $106,721 purchasing power in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- Rents drives the gap (+20.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:WA 97.1→103.7
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE FL × WA
- RENT-LED Rent-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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Lakeland-Winter Haven would need to be in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater for the same purchasing power:
| In Lakeland-Winter Haven | In Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,361 | +$3,361 |
| $75,000 | $80,041 | +$5,041 |
| $100,000 | $106,721 | +$6,721 |
| $150,000 | $160,082 | +$10,082 |
$ in Lakeland-Winter Haven = in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.1 → 103.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA is 6.7% more expensive than Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.5-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is above 100 while Lakeland-Winter Haven is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 20.7 points higher than Lakeland-Winter Haven. 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 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 Lakeland-Winter Haven corresponds to $106,721 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 105.0
Diff +8.8 RPP
Services
Diff +4.8 RPP
Rents
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 116.7
Diff +20.7 RPP
| Category | Lakeland-Winter Haven | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.1 | 103.7 | +6.5 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 105.0 | +8.8 |
| Services | 86.9 | 91.7 | +4.8 |
| Rents | 95.9 | 116.7 | +20.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Lakeland-Winter Haven 97.1
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 103.7
Goods
Lakeland-Winter Haven 96.2
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 105.0
Services
Lakeland-Winter Haven 86.9
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 91.7
Rents
Lakeland-Winter Haven 95.9
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 116.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Lakeland-Winter Haven
97.1
Cost Index
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
103.7
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Lakeland-Winter Haven and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 8.5 to 6.5 RPP points. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 20.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (15.5 to 4.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Lakeland-Winter Haven RPP | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 96.9 | 105.4 | 8.5 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2012 | 96.1 | 101.3 | 5.2 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2016 | 96.4 | 106.0 | 9.6 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2020 | 93.3 | 101.9 | 8.6 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2024 | 97.1 | 103.7 | 6.5 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 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 Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater more expensive than Lakeland-Winter Haven?
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 6.7% more expensive than Lakeland-Winter Haven. The overall cost index is 103.7 vs 97.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater equals $100K in Lakeland-Winter Haven?
A $100,000 salary in Lakeland-Winter Haven has the same purchasing power as $106,721 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Lakeland-Winter Haven and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater?
Rents in Lakeland-Winter Haven are indexed at 95.9 while Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is at 116.7 (national average = 100). Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 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.