Overall
- Longview-Kelso
- 97.5
- Trenton-Princeton
- 103.2
Diff +5.6 RPP
Longview-Kelso vs Trenton-Princeton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Trenton-Princeton is 5.8% more expensive than Longview-Kelso.
5.8% more expensive
Trenton-Princeton, NJ is 5.8% more expensive than Longview-Kelso, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.2 vs 97.5). A $100,000 salary in Longview-Kelso buys about the same as $105,777 in Trenton-Princeton; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 97.5 (Longview-Kelso) vs 103.2 (Trenton-Princeton)
- $100k in Longview-Kelso ≈ $105,777 purchasing power in Trenton-Princeton
- Rents drives the gap (+52.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:NJ 97.5→103.2
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE WA × NJ
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Longview-Kelso
- 105.0
- Trenton-Princeton
- 99.8
Diff -5.2 RPP
Services
- Longview-Kelso
- 98.5
- Trenton-Princeton
- 112.3
Diff +13.8 RPP
Rents
- Longview-Kelso
- 82.5
- Trenton-Princeton
- 135.1
Diff +52.5 RPP
| Category | Longview-Kelso | Trenton-Princeton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.5 | 103.2 | +5.6 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 99.8 | -5.2 |
| Services | 98.5 | 112.3 | +13.8 |
| Rents | 82.5 | 135.1 | +52.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Longview-Kelso 97.5
Trenton-Princeton 103.2
Goods
Longview-Kelso 105.0
Trenton-Princeton 99.8
Services
Longview-Kelso 98.5
Trenton-Princeton 112.3
Rents
Longview-Kelso 82.5
Trenton-Princeton 135.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Trenton-Princeton is 52.5 points higher. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Trenton-Princeton, NJ is 5.8% more expensive than Longview-Kelso, WA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.6-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Trenton-Princeton is above 100 while Longview-Kelso is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 $105,777 in Trenton-Princeton.
Longview-Kelso
97.5
Cost Index
Trenton-Princeton
103.2
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Longview-Kelso would need to be in Trenton-Princeton for the same purchasing power:
| In Longview-Kelso | In Trenton-Princeton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,888 | +$2,888 |
| $75,000 | $79,333 | +$4,333 |
| $100,000 | $105,777 | +$5,777 |
| $150,000 | $158,665 | +$8,665 |
$ in Longview-Kelso = in Trenton-Princeton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.5 → 103.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Longview-Kelso and Trenton-Princeton share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 6.4 to 5.6 RPP points. Trenton-Princeton remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 59.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (73.4 to 13.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Longview-Kelso RPP | Trenton-Princeton RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.1 | 104.6 | 6.4 points Trenton-Princeton higher |
| 2012 | 92.5 | 108.4 | 15.9 points Trenton-Princeton higher |
| 2016 | 96.8 | 108.8 | 12.0 points Trenton-Princeton higher |
| 2020 | 100.0 | 104.2 | 4.2 points Trenton-Princeton higher |
| 2024 | 97.5 | 103.2 | 5.6 points Trenton-Princeton 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 Trenton-Princeton more expensive than Longview-Kelso?
Trenton-Princeton is 5.8% more expensive than Longview-Kelso. The overall cost index is 103.2 vs 97.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Trenton-Princeton equals $100K in Longview-Kelso?
A $100,000 salary in Longview-Kelso has the same purchasing power as $105,777 in Trenton-Princeton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Longview-Kelso and Trenton-Princeton?
Rents in Longview-Kelso are indexed at 82.5 while Trenton-Princeton is at 135.1 (national average = 100). Trenton-Princeton 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.