Overall
- Madison
- 97.3
- Grants Pass
- 97.8
Diff +0.5 RPP
Madison vs Grants Pass
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Grants Pass is 0.5% more expensive than Madison.
0.5% more expensive
Grants Pass, OR is 0.5% more expensive than Madison, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.8 vs 97.3). A $100,000 salary in Madison buys about the same as $100,486 in Grants Pass; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 97.3 (Madison) vs 97.8 (Grants Pass)
- $100k in Madison ≈ $100,486 purchasing power in Grants Pass
- Rents drives the gap (-19.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:OR 97.3→97.8
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WI × OR
- 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.
Madison
97.3
Cost Index
Grants Pass
97.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Madison, WI and Grants Pass, OR 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.
Rents creates the largest separation: Grants Pass is 19.8 points lower. But 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 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 Madison corresponds to $100,486 in Grants Pass.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Madison
- 93.8
- Grants Pass
- 105.3
Diff +11.5 RPP
Services
- Madison
- 89.8
- Grants Pass
- 103.6
Diff +13.7 RPP
Rents
- Madison
- 99.7
- Grants Pass
- 79.9
Diff -19.8 RPP
| Category | Madison | Grants Pass | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.3 | 97.8 | +0.5 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 105.3 | +11.5 |
| Services | 89.8 | 103.6 | +13.7 |
| Rents | 99.7 | 79.9 | -19.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Madison 97.3
Grants Pass 97.8
Goods
Madison 93.8
Grants Pass 105.3
Services
Madison 89.8
Grants Pass 103.6
Rents
Madison 99.7
Grants Pass 79.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Madison and Grants Pass share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.0 to 0.5 RPP points. Grants Pass remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 40.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (27.1 to 13.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Madison RPP | Grants Pass RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.1 | 96.2 | 2.0 points Madison higher |
| 2012 | 97.4 | 96.1 | 1.3 points Madison higher |
| 2016 | 95.9 | 96.2 | 0.3 points Grants Pass higher |
| 2020 | 95.9 | 95.0 | 0.9 points Madison higher |
| 2024 | 97.3 | 97.8 | 0.5 points Grants Pass 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Madison would need to be in Grants Pass for the same purchasing power:
| In Madison | In Grants Pass | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,243 | +$243 |
| $75,000 | $75,365 | +$365 |
| $100,000 | $100,486 | +$486 |
| $150,000 | $150,729 | +$729 |
$ in Madison = in Grants Pass
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.3 → 97.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Grants Pass more expensive than Madison?
Grants Pass is 0.5% more expensive than Madison. The overall cost index is 97.8 vs 97.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Grants Pass equals $100K in Madison?
A $100,000 salary in Madison has the same purchasing power as $100,486 in Grants Pass. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Madison and Grants Pass?
Rents in Madison are indexed at 99.7 while Grants Pass is at 79.9 (national average = 100). Madison 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.