Overall
- Lexington Park
- 100.8
- Salem
- 103.6
Diff +2.9 RPP
Lexington Park vs Salem
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Salem is 2.9% more expensive than Lexington Park.
2.9% more expensive
Salem, OR is 2.9% more expensive than Lexington Park, MD on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 100.8). A $100,000 salary in Lexington Park buys about the same as $102,867 in Salem; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 100.8 (Lexington Park) vs 103.6 (Salem)
- $100k in Lexington Park ≈ $102,867 purchasing power in Salem
- Rents drives the gap (+6.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MD:OR 100.8→103.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE MD × OR
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 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
- Lexington Park
- 99.7
- Salem
- 105.3
Diff +5.6 RPP
Services
- Lexington Park
- 106.4
- Salem
- 104.7
Diff -1.7 RPP
Rents
- Lexington Park
- 103.8
- Salem
- 110.3
Diff +6.5 RPP
| Category | Lexington Park | Salem | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 100.8 | 103.6 | +2.9 |
| Goods | 99.7 | 105.3 | +5.6 |
| Services | 106.4 | 104.7 | -1.7 |
| Rents | 103.8 | 110.3 | +6.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Lexington Park 100.8
Salem 103.6
Goods
Lexington Park 99.7
Salem 105.3
Services
Lexington Park 106.4
Salem 104.7
Rents
Lexington Park 103.8
Salem 110.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Salem is 6.5 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Salem, OR is 2.9% more expensive than Lexington Park, MD, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.9-point overall gap.
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
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 Lexington Park corresponds to $102,867 in Salem.
Lexington Park
100.8
Cost Index
Salem
103.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Lexington Park would need to be in Salem for the same purchasing power:
| In Lexington Park | In Salem | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,434 | +$1,434 |
| $75,000 | $77,150 | +$2,150 |
| $100,000 | $102,867 | +$2,867 |
| $150,000 | $154,301 | +$4,301 |
$ in Lexington Park = in Salem
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (100.8 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Lexington Park and Salem share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 8.8 to 2.9 RPP points. Salem remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 39.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (33.1 to 6.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Lexington Park RPP | Salem RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 103.0 | 94.1 | 8.8 points Lexington Park higher |
| 2012 | 102.6 | 101.1 | 1.6 points Lexington Park higher |
| 2016 | 103.3 | 97.1 | 6.2 points Lexington Park higher |
| 2020 | 101.4 | 100.9 | 0.5 points Lexington Park higher |
| 2024 | 100.8 | 103.6 | 2.9 points Salem 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 Salem more expensive than Lexington Park?
Salem is 2.9% more expensive than Lexington Park. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 100.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Salem equals $100K in Lexington Park?
A $100,000 salary in Lexington Park has the same purchasing power as $102,867 in Salem. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Lexington Park and Salem?
Rents in Lexington Park are indexed at 103.8 while Salem is at 110.3 (national average = 100). Salem 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.