Overall
- Longview-Kelso
- 97.5
- Salem
- 103.6
Diff +6.1 RPP
Longview-Kelso vs Salem
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Salem is 6.3% more expensive than Longview-Kelso.
6.3% more expensive
Salem, OR is 6.3% more expensive than Longview-Kelso, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 97.5). A $100,000 salary in Longview-Kelso buys about the same as $106,258 in Salem; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 97.5 (Longview-Kelso) vs 103.6 (Salem)
- $100k in Longview-Kelso ≈ $106,258 purchasing power in Salem
- Rents drives the gap (+27.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:OR 97.5→103.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE WA × OR
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Longview-Kelso would need to be in Salem for the same purchasing power:
| In Longview-Kelso | In Salem | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,129 | +$3,129 |
| $75,000 | $79,693 | +$4,693 |
| $100,000 | $106,258 | +$6,258 |
| $150,000 | $159,386 | +$9,386 |
$ in Longview-Kelso = in Salem
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.5 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Salem, OR is 6.3% more expensive than Longview-Kelso, WA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.1-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Salem is above 100 while Longview-Kelso is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Salem 27.8 points higher than Longview-Kelso. 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 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 Longview-Kelso corresponds to $106,258 in Salem.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Longview-Kelso
- 105.0
- Salem
- 105.3
Diff +0.2 RPP
Services
- Longview-Kelso
- 98.5
- Salem
- 104.7
Diff +6.2 RPP
Rents
- Longview-Kelso
- 82.5
- Salem
- 110.3
Diff +27.8 RPP
| Category | Longview-Kelso | Salem | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.5 | 103.6 | +6.1 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 105.3 | +0.2 |
| Services | 98.5 | 104.7 | +6.2 |
| Rents | 82.5 | 110.3 | +27.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Longview-Kelso 97.5
Salem 103.6
Goods
Longview-Kelso 105.0
Salem 105.3
Services
Longview-Kelso 98.5
Salem 104.7
Rents
Longview-Kelso 82.5
Salem 110.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
Longview-Kelso
97.5
Cost Index
Salem
103.6
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Longview-Kelso and Salem share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 4.0 to 6.1 RPP points. Salem remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 34.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (6.3 to 27.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Longview-Kelso RPP | Salem RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.1 | 94.1 | 4.0 points Longview-Kelso higher |
| 2012 | 92.5 | 101.1 | 8.6 points Salem higher |
| 2016 | 96.8 | 97.1 | 0.3 points Salem higher |
| 2020 | 100.0 | 100.9 | 0.9 points Salem higher |
| 2024 | 97.5 | 103.6 | 6.1 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 Longview-Kelso?
Salem is 6.3% more expensive than Longview-Kelso. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 97.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Salem equals $100K in Longview-Kelso?
A $100,000 salary in Longview-Kelso has the same purchasing power as $106,258 in Salem. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Longview-Kelso and Salem?
Rents in Longview-Kelso are indexed at 82.5 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.