Overall
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 96.9
- Lancaster
- 98.3
Diff +1.3 RPP
Milwaukee-Waukesha vs Lancaster
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lancaster is 1.4% more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha.
1.4% more expensive
Lancaster, PA is 1.4% more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 96.9). A $100,000 salary in Milwaukee-Waukesha buys about the same as $101,362 in Lancaster; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 96.9 (Milwaukee-Waukesha) vs 98.3 (Lancaster)
- $100k in Milwaukee-Waukesha ≈ $101,362 purchasing power in Lancaster
- Services drives the gap (+15.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:PA 96.9→98.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WI × PA
- 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.
Milwaukee-Waukesha
96.9
Cost Index
Lancaster
98.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI and Lancaster, PA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Lancaster is 15.7 points higher. 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Milwaukee-Waukesha to $101,362 in Lancaster, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 93.8
- Lancaster
- 100.7
Diff +6.9 RPP
Services
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 91.6
- Lancaster
- 107.3
Diff +15.7 RPP
Rents
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 97.1
- Lancaster
- 93.8
Diff -3.3 RPP
| Category | Milwaukee-Waukesha | Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 96.9 | 98.3 | +1.3 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 100.7 | +6.9 |
| Services | 91.6 | 107.3 | +15.7 |
| Rents | 97.1 | 93.8 | -3.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Milwaukee-Waukesha 96.9
Lancaster 98.3
Goods
Milwaukee-Waukesha 93.8
Lancaster 100.7
Services
Milwaukee-Waukesha 91.6
Lancaster 107.3
Rents
Milwaukee-Waukesha 97.1
Lancaster 93.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Milwaukee-Waukesha and Lancaster share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.4 to 1.3 RPP points. Lancaster remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 12.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (2.8 to 15.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Milwaukee-Waukesha RPP | Lancaster RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.7 | 100.2 | 2.4 points Lancaster higher |
| 2012 | 97.6 | 97.8 | 0.2 points Lancaster higher |
| 2016 | 99.1 | 99.4 | 0.3 points Lancaster higher |
| 2020 | 95.7 | 97.9 | 2.1 points Lancaster higher |
| 2024 | 96.9 | 98.3 | 1.3 points Lancaster 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 Milwaukee-Waukesha would need to be in Lancaster for the same purchasing power:
| In Milwaukee-Waukesha | In Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,681 | +$681 |
| $75,000 | $76,021 | +$1,021 |
| $100,000 | $101,362 | +$1,362 |
| $150,000 | $152,043 | +$2,043 |
$ in Milwaukee-Waukesha = in Lancaster
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (96.9 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lancaster more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha?
Lancaster is 1.4% more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 96.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lancaster equals $100K in Milwaukee-Waukesha?
A $100,000 salary in Milwaukee-Waukesha has the same purchasing power as $101,362 in Lancaster. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Milwaukee-Waukesha and Lancaster?
Rents in Milwaukee-Waukesha are indexed at 97.1 while Lancaster is at 93.8 (national average = 100). Milwaukee-Waukesha 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.