Overall
- Lancaster
- 98.3
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 102.4
Diff +4.2 RPP
Lancaster vs Mount Vernon-Anacortes
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Mount Vernon-Anacortes is 4.3% more expensive than Lancaster.
4.3% more expensive
Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA is 4.3% more expensive than Lancaster, PA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 102.4 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Lancaster buys about the same as $104,260 in Mount Vernon-Anacortes; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Lancaster) vs 102.4 (Mount Vernon-Anacortes)
- $100k in Lancaster ≈ $104,260 purchasing power in Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- Rents drives the gap (+14.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair PA:WA 98.3→102.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE PA × WA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Lancaster
- 100.7
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 105.0
Diff +4.3 RPP
Services
- Lancaster
- 107.3
Diff -11.3 RPP
Rents
- Lancaster
- 93.8
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 108.2
Diff +14.4 RPP
| Category | Lancaster | Mount Vernon-Anacortes | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 102.4 | +4.2 |
| Goods | 100.7 | 105.0 | +4.3 |
| Services | 107.3 | 96.0 | -11.3 |
| Rents | 93.8 | 108.2 | +14.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Lancaster 98.3
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 102.4
Goods
Lancaster 100.7
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 105.0
Services
Lancaster 107.3
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 96.0
Rents
Lancaster 93.8
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 108.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Mount Vernon-Anacortes is 14.4 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA is 4.3% more expensive than Lancaster, PA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.2-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Mount Vernon-Anacortes is above 100 while Lancaster is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 Lancaster corresponds to $104,260 in Mount Vernon-Anacortes.
Lancaster
98.3
Cost Index
Mount Vernon-Anacortes
102.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Lancaster would need to be in Mount Vernon-Anacortes for the same purchasing power:
| In Lancaster | In Mount Vernon-Anacortes | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,130 | +$2,130 |
| $75,000 | $78,195 | +$3,195 |
| $100,000 | $104,260 | +$4,260 |
| $150,000 | $156,390 | +$6,390 |
$ in Lancaster = in Mount Vernon-Anacortes
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 102.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Mount Vernon-Anacortes more expensive than Lancaster?
Mount Vernon-Anacortes is 4.3% more expensive than Lancaster. The overall cost index is 102.4 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Mount Vernon-Anacortes equals $100K in Lancaster?
A $100,000 salary in Lancaster has the same purchasing power as $104,260 in Mount Vernon-Anacortes. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Lancaster and Mount Vernon-Anacortes?
Rents in Lancaster are indexed at 93.8 while Mount Vernon-Anacortes is at 108.2 (national average = 100). Mount Vernon-Anacortes 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.