Overall
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 96.9
- Walla Walla
- 98.5
Diff +1.6 RPP
Milwaukee-Waukesha vs Walla Walla
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Walla Walla is 1.6% more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha.
1.6% more expensive
Walla Walla, WA is 1.6% more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.5 vs 96.9). A $100,000 salary in Milwaukee-Waukesha buys about the same as $101,632 in Walla Walla; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 96.9 (Milwaukee-Waukesha) vs 98.5 (Walla Walla)
- $100k in Milwaukee-Waukesha ≈ $101,632 purchasing power in Walla Walla
- Goods drives the gap (+11.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:WA 96.9→98.5
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WI × WA
- 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
Walla Walla
98.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI and Walla Walla, WA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.6 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Goods creates the largest separation: Walla Walla is 11.2 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 goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $101,632 in Walla Walla as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Milwaukee-Waukesha, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 93.8
- Walla Walla
- 105.0
Diff +11.2 RPP
Services
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 91.6
- Walla Walla
- 94.3
Diff +2.7 RPP
Rents
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 97.1
- Walla Walla
- 86.6
Diff -10.5 RPP
| Category | Milwaukee-Waukesha | Walla Walla | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 96.9 | 98.5 | +1.6 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 105.0 | +11.2 |
| Services | 91.6 | 94.3 | +2.7 |
| Rents | 97.1 | 86.6 | -10.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Milwaukee-Waukesha 96.9
Walla Walla 98.5
Goods
Milwaukee-Waukesha 93.8
Walla Walla 105.0
Services
Milwaukee-Waukesha 91.6
Walla Walla 94.3
Rents
Milwaukee-Waukesha 97.1
Walla Walla 86.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Milwaukee-Waukesha and Walla Walla share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.1 to 1.6 RPP points. Walla Walla remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 42.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (39.3 to 2.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Milwaukee-Waukesha RPP | Walla Walla RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.7 | 95.6 | 2.1 points Milwaukee-Waukesha higher |
| 2012 | 97.6 | 95.1 | 2.5 points Milwaukee-Waukesha higher |
| 2016 | 99.1 | 96.3 | 2.8 points Milwaukee-Waukesha higher |
| 2020 | 95.7 | 95.2 | 0.6 points Milwaukee-Waukesha higher |
| 2024 | 96.9 | 98.5 | 1.6 points Walla Walla 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 Walla Walla for the same purchasing power:
| In Milwaukee-Waukesha | In Walla Walla | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,816 | +$816 |
| $75,000 | $76,224 | +$1,224 |
| $100,000 | $101,632 | +$1,632 |
| $150,000 | $152,448 | +$2,448 |
$ in Milwaukee-Waukesha = in Walla Walla
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (96.9 → 98.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Walla Walla more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha?
Walla Walla is 1.6% more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha. The overall cost index is 98.5 vs 96.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Walla Walla equals $100K in Milwaukee-Waukesha?
A $100,000 salary in Milwaukee-Waukesha has the same purchasing power as $101,632 in Walla Walla. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Milwaukee-Waukesha and Walla Walla?
Rents in Milwaukee-Waukesha are indexed at 97.1 while Walla Walla is at 86.6 (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.