Overall
- Lewiston-Auburn
- 94.7
Diff +4.1 RPP
Lewiston-Auburn vs Atlantic City-Hammonton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Atlantic City-Hammonton is 4.3% more expensive than Lewiston-Auburn.
4.3% more expensive
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ is 4.3% more expensive than Lewiston-Auburn, ME on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.9 vs 94.7). A $100,000 salary in Lewiston-Auburn buys about the same as $104,350 in Atlantic City-Hammonton; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 94.7 (Lewiston-Auburn) vs 98.9 (Atlantic City-Hammonton)
- $100k in Lewiston-Auburn ≈ $104,350 purchasing power in Atlantic City-Hammonton
- Rents drives the gap (+29.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ME:NJ 94.7→98.9
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE ME × NJ
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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
- Lewiston-Auburn
- 97.2
Diff +2.6 RPP
Services
- Lewiston-Auburn
- 134.4
- Atlantic City-Hammonton
- 109.2
Diff -25.2 RPP
Rents
- Lewiston-Auburn
- 69.0
Diff +29.7 RPP
| Category | Lewiston-Auburn | Atlantic City-Hammonton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 94.7 | 98.9 | +4.1 |
| Goods | 97.2 | 99.8 | +2.6 |
| Services | 134.4 | 109.2 | -25.2 |
| Rents | 69.0 | 98.7 | +29.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Lewiston-Auburn 94.7
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.9
Goods
Lewiston-Auburn 97.2
Atlantic City-Hammonton 99.8
Services
Lewiston-Auburn 134.4
Atlantic City-Hammonton 109.2
Rents
Lewiston-Auburn 69.0
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Atlantic City-Hammonton is 29.7 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ is 4.3% more expensive than Lewiston-Auburn, ME, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.1-point overall gap.
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.
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 Lewiston-Auburn corresponds to $104,350 in Atlantic City-Hammonton.
Lewiston-Auburn
94.7
Cost Index
Atlantic City-Hammonton
98.9
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Lewiston-Auburn would need to be in Atlantic City-Hammonton for the same purchasing power:
| In Lewiston-Auburn | In Atlantic City-Hammonton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,175 | +$2,175 |
| $75,000 | $78,262 | +$3,262 |
| $100,000 | $104,350 | +$4,350 |
| $150,000 | $156,525 | +$6,525 |
$ in Lewiston-Auburn = in Atlantic City-Hammonton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (94.7 → 98.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Lewiston-Auburn and Atlantic City-Hammonton share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 13.0 to 4.1 RPP points. Atlantic City-Hammonton remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 24.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (54.2 to 29.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Lewiston-Auburn RPP | Atlantic City-Hammonton RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.7 | 110.7 | 13.0 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2012 | 98.8 | 104.6 | 5.8 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2016 | 96.6 | 102.6 | 6.0 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2020 | 99.7 | 101.2 | 1.5 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2024 | 94.7 | 98.9 | 4.1 points Atlantic City-Hammonton 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 Atlantic City-Hammonton more expensive than Lewiston-Auburn?
Atlantic City-Hammonton is 4.3% more expensive than Lewiston-Auburn. The overall cost index is 98.9 vs 94.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton equals $100K in Lewiston-Auburn?
A $100,000 salary in Lewiston-Auburn has the same purchasing power as $104,350 in Atlantic City-Hammonton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Lewiston-Auburn and Atlantic City-Hammonton?
Rents in Lewiston-Auburn are indexed at 69.0 while Atlantic City-Hammonton is at 98.7 (national average = 100). Atlantic City-Hammonton 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.