Overall
- Longview-Kelso
- 97.5
- Rochester
- 97.0
Diff -0.5 RPP
Longview-Kelso vs Rochester
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Rochester is 0.5% less expensive than Longview-Kelso.
0.5% less expensive
Rochester, NY is 0.5% less expensive than Longview-Kelso, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.0 vs 97.5). A $100,000 salary in Longview-Kelso buys about the same as $99,477 in Rochester; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 97.5 (Longview-Kelso) vs 97.0 (Rochester)
- $100k in Longview-Kelso ≈ $99,477 purchasing power in Rochester
- Services drives the gap (+34.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:NY 97.5→97.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WA × NY
- 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.
Longview-Kelso
97.5
Cost Index
Rochester
97.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Longview-Kelso, WA and Rochester, NY are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Rochester is 34.8 points higher. But services and 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 Longview-Kelso to $99,477 in Rochester, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Longview-Kelso
- 105.0
- Rochester
- 99.7
Diff -5.3 RPP
Services
- Longview-Kelso
- 98.5
- Rochester
- 133.2
Diff +34.8 RPP
Rents
- Longview-Kelso
- 82.5
- Rochester
- 87.5
Diff +4.9 RPP
| Category | Longview-Kelso | Rochester | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.5 | 97.0 | -0.5 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 99.7 | -5.3 |
| Services | 98.5 | 133.2 | +34.8 |
| Rents | 82.5 | 87.5 | +4.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Longview-Kelso 97.5
Rochester 97.0
Goods
Longview-Kelso 105.0
Rochester 99.7
Services
Longview-Kelso 98.5
Rochester 133.2
Rents
Longview-Kelso 82.5
Rochester 87.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Longview-Kelso would need to be in Rochester for the same purchasing power:
| In Longview-Kelso | In Rochester | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,739 | $-261 |
| $75,000 | $74,608 | $-392 |
| $100,000 | $99,477 | $-523 |
| $150,000 | $149,216 | $-784 |
$ in Longview-Kelso = in Rochester
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.5 → 97.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Rochester more expensive than Longview-Kelso?
Rochester is 0.5% less expensive than Longview-Kelso. The overall cost index is 97.0 vs 97.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Rochester equals $100K in Longview-Kelso?
A $100,000 salary in Longview-Kelso has the same purchasing power as $99,477 in Rochester. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Longview-Kelso and Rochester?
Rents in Longview-Kelso are indexed at 82.5 while Rochester is at 87.5 (national average = 100). Rochester 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.