Overall
- Lewiston-Auburn
- 94.7
- Sheboygan
- 94.0
Diff -0.7 RPP
Lewiston-Auburn vs Sheboygan
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Sheboygan is 0.8% less expensive than Lewiston-Auburn.
0.8% less expensive
Sheboygan, WI is 0.8% less expensive than Lewiston-Auburn, ME on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 94.0 vs 94.7). A $100,000 salary in Lewiston-Auburn buys about the same as $99,238 in Sheboygan; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 94.7 (Lewiston-Auburn) vs 94.0 (Sheboygan)
- $100k in Lewiston-Auburn ≈ $99,238 purchasing power in Sheboygan
- Services drives the gap (-46.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ME:WI 94.7→94.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE ME × WI
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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.
Lewiston-Auburn
94.7
Cost Index
Sheboygan
94.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Lewiston-Auburn, ME and Sheboygan, WI are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.7 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Sheboygan is 46.8 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 Lewiston-Auburn to $99,238 in Sheboygan, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Lewiston-Auburn
- 97.2
- Sheboygan
- 93.8
Diff -3.4 RPP
Services
- Lewiston-Auburn
- 134.4
- Sheboygan
- 87.6
Diff -46.8 RPP
Rents
- Lewiston-Auburn
- 69.0
- Sheboygan
- 80.5
Diff +11.5 RPP
| Category | Lewiston-Auburn | Sheboygan | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 94.7 | 94.0 | -0.7 |
| Goods | 97.2 | 93.8 | -3.4 |
| Services | 134.4 | 87.6 | -46.8 |
| Rents | 69.0 | 80.5 | +11.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Lewiston-Auburn 94.7
Sheboygan 94.0
Goods
Lewiston-Auburn 97.2
Sheboygan 93.8
Services
Lewiston-Auburn 134.4
Sheboygan 87.6
Rents
Lewiston-Auburn 69.0
Sheboygan 80.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Lewiston-Auburn and Sheboygan share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.0 to 0.7 RPP points. Lewiston-Auburn remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 12.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (0.9 to 11.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Lewiston-Auburn RPP | Sheboygan RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.7 | 95.7 | 2.0 points Lewiston-Auburn higher |
| 2012 | 98.8 | 93.0 | 5.7 points Lewiston-Auburn higher |
| 2016 | 96.6 | 93.3 | 3.3 points Lewiston-Auburn higher |
| 2020 | 99.7 | 93.3 | 6.4 points Lewiston-Auburn higher |
| 2024 | 94.7 | 94.0 | 0.7 points Lewiston-Auburn 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Lewiston-Auburn would need to be in Sheboygan for the same purchasing power:
| In Lewiston-Auburn | In Sheboygan | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,619 | $-381 |
| $75,000 | $74,428 | $-572 |
| $100,000 | $99,238 | $-762 |
| $150,000 | $148,857 | $-1,143 |
$ in Lewiston-Auburn = in Sheboygan
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (94.7 → 94.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Sheboygan more expensive than Lewiston-Auburn?
Sheboygan is 0.8% less expensive than Lewiston-Auburn. The overall cost index is 94.0 vs 94.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Sheboygan equals $100K in Lewiston-Auburn?
A $100,000 salary in Lewiston-Auburn has the same purchasing power as $99,238 in Sheboygan. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Lewiston-Auburn and Sheboygan?
Rents in Lewiston-Auburn are indexed at 69.0 while Sheboygan is at 80.5 (national average = 100). Sheboygan 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.