Overall
Diff -0.2 RPP
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Flint is 0.2% less expensive than Lebanon.
Flint, MI is 0.2% less expensive than Lebanon, PA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.0 vs 93.2). A $100,000 salary in Lebanon buys about the same as $99,807 in Flint; the largest component gap is services.
RPP parity plate
Pair PA:MI 93.2→93.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-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.
Lebanon, PA and Flint, MI are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Flint is 11.4 points lower. 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.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
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 Lebanon to $99,807 in Flint, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Diff -0.2 RPP
Diff -7.0 RPP
Diff -11.4 RPP
Diff +8.0 RPP
| Category | Lebanon | Flint | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.2 | 93.0 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 100.7 | 93.7 | -7.0 |
| Services | 108.4 | 97.1 | -11.4 |
| Rents | 66.0 | 74.0 | +8.0 |
Vertical line = national average (100)
What a salary in Lebanon would need to be in Flint for the same purchasing power:
| In Lebanon | In Flint | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,903 | $-97 |
| $75,000 | $74,855 | $-145 |
| $100,000 | $99,807 | $-193 |
| $150,000 | $149,710 | $-290 |
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (93.2 → 93.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Flint is 0.2% less expensive than Lebanon. The overall cost index is 93.0 vs 93.2 (national average = 100).
A $100,000 salary in Lebanon has the same purchasing power as $99,807 in Flint. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
Rents in Lebanon are indexed at 66.0 while Flint is at 74.0 (national average = 100). Flint has higher rents.
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.