Overall
- Bellingham
- 103.3
Diff -10.2 RPP
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim vs Bellingham
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Bellingham is 9% less expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim.
9% less expensive
Bellingham, WA is 9% less expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.3 vs 113.6). A $100,000 salary in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim buys about the same as $90,990 in Bellingham; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 113.6 (Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim) vs 103.3 (Bellingham)
- $100k in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim ≈ $90,990 purchasing power in Bellingham
- Services drives the gap (-58.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:WA 113.6→103.3
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE CA × WA
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA and Bellingham, WA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 10.2 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
Services leads the difference, with Bellingham 58.7 points lower than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim. 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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim to $90,990 in Bellingham, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Bellingham
- 105.0
Diff -1.6 RPP
Services
- Bellingham
- 99.9
Diff -58.7 RPP
Rents
- Bellingham
- 112.9
Diff -57.5 RPP
| Category | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim | Bellingham | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 113.6 | 103.3 | -10.2 |
| Goods | 106.6 | 105.0 | -1.6 |
| Services | 158.6 | 99.9 | -58.7 |
| Rents | 170.4 | 112.9 | -57.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 113.6
Bellingham 103.3
Goods
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 106.6
Bellingham 105.0
Services
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 158.6
Bellingham 99.9
Rents
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 170.4
Bellingham 112.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim would need to be in Bellingham for the same purchasing power:
| In Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim | In Bellingham | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $45,495 | $-4,505 |
| $75,000 | $68,243 | $-6,757 |
| $100,000 | $90,990 | $-9,010 |
| $150,000 | $136,485 | $-13,515 |
$ in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim = in Bellingham
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (113.6 → 103.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim
113.6
Cost Index
Bellingham
103.3
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bellingham more expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim?
Bellingham is 9% less expensive than Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim. The overall cost index is 103.3 vs 113.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Bellingham equals $100K in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim?
A $100,000 salary in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim has the same purchasing power as $90,990 in Bellingham. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and Bellingham?
Rents in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim are indexed at 170.4 while Bellingham is at 112.9 (national average = 100). Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim 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.