Overall
- Morgantown
- 93.3
Diff +0.1 RPP
Morgantown vs Lafayette-West Lafayette
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lafayette-West Lafayette is 0.1% more expensive than Morgantown.
0.1% more expensive
Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN is 0.1% more expensive than Morgantown, WV on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.4 vs 93.3). A $100,000 salary in Morgantown buys about the same as $100,115 in Lafayette-West Lafayette; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 93.3 (Morgantown) vs 93.4 (Lafayette-West Lafayette)
- $100k in Morgantown ≈ $100,115 purchasing power in Lafayette-West Lafayette
- Rents drives the gap (+7.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WV:IN 93.3→93.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WV × IN
- 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.
Morgantown
93.3
Cost Index
Lafayette-West Lafayette
93.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Morgantown, WV and Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Lafayette-West Lafayette is 7.3 points higher. But services and goods 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 Morgantown corresponds to $100,115 in Lafayette-West Lafayette.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Morgantown
- 96.3
Diff -2.0 RPP
Services
- Morgantown
- 92.5
Diff -6.1 RPP
Rents
- Morgantown
- 69.1
Diff +7.3 RPP
| Category | Morgantown | Lafayette-West Lafayette | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.3 | 93.4 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 94.3 | -2.0 |
| Services | 92.5 | 86.4 | -6.1 |
| Rents | 69.1 | 76.4 | +7.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Morgantown 93.3
Lafayette-West Lafayette 93.4
Goods
Morgantown 96.3
Lafayette-West Lafayette 94.3
Services
Morgantown 92.5
Lafayette-West Lafayette 86.4
Rents
Morgantown 69.1
Lafayette-West Lafayette 76.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Morgantown and Lafayette-West Lafayette share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.3 to 0.1 RPP points. Lafayette-West Lafayette remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 21.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (15.2 to 6.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Morgantown RPP | Lafayette-West Lafayette RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 89.4 | 91.7 | 2.3 points Lafayette-West Lafayette higher |
| 2012 | 91.8 | 93.7 | 1.9 points Lafayette-West Lafayette higher |
| 2016 | 94.4 | 91.1 | 3.3 points Morgantown higher |
| 2020 | 91.9 | 90.9 | 1.0 points Morgantown higher |
| 2024 | 93.3 | 93.4 | 0.1 points Lafayette-West Lafayette 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 Morgantown would need to be in Lafayette-West Lafayette for the same purchasing power:
| In Morgantown | In Lafayette-West Lafayette | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,057 | +$57 |
| $75,000 | $75,086 | +$86 |
| $100,000 | $100,115 | +$115 |
| $150,000 | $150,172 | +$172 |
$ in Morgantown = in Lafayette-West Lafayette
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (93.3 → 93.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lafayette-West Lafayette more expensive than Morgantown?
Lafayette-West Lafayette is 0.1% more expensive than Morgantown. The overall cost index is 93.4 vs 93.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lafayette-West Lafayette equals $100K in Morgantown?
A $100,000 salary in Morgantown has the same purchasing power as $100,115 in Lafayette-West Lafayette. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Morgantown and Lafayette-West Lafayette?
Rents in Morgantown are indexed at 69.1 while Lafayette-West Lafayette is at 76.4 (national average = 100). Lafayette-West Lafayette 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.