Overall
- Lancaster
- 98.3
Diff +8.9 RPP
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway vs Lancaster
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lancaster is 10% more expensive than Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway.
10% more expensive
Lancaster, PA is 10% more expensive than Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 89.4). A $100,000 salary in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway buys about the same as $109,951 in Lancaster; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 89.4 (Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway) vs 98.3 (Lancaster)
- $100k in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway ≈ $109,951 purchasing power in Lancaster
- Services drives the gap (+32.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AR:PA 89.4→98.3
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE AR × PA
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR and Lancaster, PA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 8.9 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
Services leads the difference, with Lancaster 32.6 points higher than Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway to $109,951 in Lancaster, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway and Lancaster share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 7.3 to 8.9 RPP points. Lancaster remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 7.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (25.1 to 32.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway RPP | Lancaster RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 92.8 | 100.2 | 7.3 points Lancaster higher |
| 2012 | 93.7 | 97.8 | 4.1 points Lancaster higher |
| 2016 | 94.3 | 99.4 | 5.1 points Lancaster higher |
| 2020 | 90.6 | 97.9 | 7.3 points Lancaster higher |
| 2024 | 89.4 | 98.3 | 8.9 points Lancaster 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Lancaster
- 100.7
Diff +7.1 RPP
Services
- Lancaster
- 107.3
Diff +32.6 RPP
Rents
- Lancaster
- 93.8
Diff +25.5 RPP
| Category | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway | Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 89.4 | 98.3 | +8.9 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 100.7 | +7.1 |
| Services | 74.6 | 107.3 | +32.6 |
| Rents | 68.3 | 93.8 | +25.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway 89.4
Lancaster 98.3
Goods
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway 93.6
Lancaster 100.7
Services
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway 74.6
Lancaster 107.3
Rents
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway 68.3
Lancaster 93.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway would need to be in Lancaster for the same purchasing power:
| In Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway | In Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $54,976 | +$4,976 |
| $75,000 | $82,464 | +$7,464 |
| $100,000 | $109,951 | +$9,951 |
| $150,000 | $164,927 | +$14,927 |
$ in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway = in Lancaster
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (89.4 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway
89.4
Cost Index
Lancaster
98.3
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lancaster more expensive than Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway?
Lancaster is 10% more expensive than Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 89.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lancaster equals $100K in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway?
A $100,000 salary in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway has the same purchasing power as $109,951 in Lancaster. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway and Lancaster?
Rents in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway are indexed at 68.3 while Lancaster is at 93.8 (national average = 100). Lancaster 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.