Overall
- Manchester-Nashua
- 105.7
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 98.7
Diff -7.0 RPP
Manchester-Nashua vs Harrisburg-Carlisle
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Harrisburg-Carlisle is 6.6% less expensive than Manchester-Nashua.
6.6% less expensive
Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA is 6.6% less expensive than Manchester-Nashua, NH on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.7 vs 105.7). A $100,000 salary in Manchester-Nashua buys about the same as $93,368 in Harrisburg-Carlisle; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 105.7 (Manchester-Nashua) vs 98.7 (Harrisburg-Carlisle)
- $100k in Manchester-Nashua ≈ $93,368 purchasing power in Harrisburg-Carlisle
- Rents drives the gap (-37.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NH:PA 105.7→98.7
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NH × PA
- 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
- Manchester-Nashua
- 97.7
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 100.7
Diff +3.0 RPP
Services
- Manchester-Nashua
- 133.5
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 108.1
Diff -25.5 RPP
Rents
- Manchester-Nashua
- 134.2
- Harrisburg-Carlisle
- 96.3
Diff -37.9 RPP
| Category | Manchester-Nashua | Harrisburg-Carlisle | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 105.7 | 98.7 | -7.0 |
| Goods | 97.7 | 100.7 | +3.0 |
| Services | 133.5 | 108.1 | -25.5 |
| Rents | 134.2 | 96.3 | -37.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Manchester-Nashua 105.7
Harrisburg-Carlisle 98.7
Goods
Manchester-Nashua 97.7
Harrisburg-Carlisle 100.7
Services
Manchester-Nashua 133.5
Harrisburg-Carlisle 108.1
Rents
Manchester-Nashua 134.2
Harrisburg-Carlisle 96.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Harrisburg-Carlisle is 37.9 points lower. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA is 6.6% less expensive than Manchester-Nashua, NH, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 7.0-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Manchester-Nashua is above 100 while Harrisburg-Carlisle 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 Manchester-Nashua corresponds to $93,368 in Harrisburg-Carlisle.
Manchester-Nashua
105.7
Cost Index
Harrisburg-Carlisle
98.7
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Manchester-Nashua would need to be in Harrisburg-Carlisle for the same purchasing power:
| In Manchester-Nashua | In Harrisburg-Carlisle | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,684 | $-3,316 |
| $75,000 | $70,026 | $-4,974 |
| $100,000 | $93,368 | $-6,632 |
| $150,000 | $140,052 | $-9,948 |
$ in Manchester-Nashua = in Harrisburg-Carlisle
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (105.7 → 98.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Manchester-Nashua and Harrisburg-Carlisle share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 10.1 to 7.0 RPP points. Manchester-Nashua remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 16.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (54.5 to 37.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Manchester-Nashua RPP | Harrisburg-Carlisle RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 109.0 | 99.0 | 10.1 points Manchester-Nashua higher |
| 2012 | 104.2 | 97.0 | 7.2 points Manchester-Nashua higher |
| 2016 | 108.0 | 98.2 | 9.8 points Manchester-Nashua higher |
| 2020 | 104.8 | 96.1 | 8.6 points Manchester-Nashua higher |
| 2024 | 105.7 | 98.7 | 7.0 points Manchester-Nashua 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 Harrisburg-Carlisle more expensive than Manchester-Nashua?
Harrisburg-Carlisle is 6.6% less expensive than Manchester-Nashua. The overall cost index is 98.7 vs 105.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Harrisburg-Carlisle equals $100K in Manchester-Nashua?
A $100,000 salary in Manchester-Nashua has the same purchasing power as $93,368 in Harrisburg-Carlisle. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Manchester-Nashua and Harrisburg-Carlisle?
Rents in Manchester-Nashua are indexed at 134.2 while Harrisburg-Carlisle is at 96.3 (national average = 100). Manchester-Nashua 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.