Overall
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 102.4
- Eugene-Springfield
- 101.6
Diff -0.9 RPP
Mount Vernon-Anacortes vs Eugene-Springfield
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Eugene-Springfield is 0.9% less expensive than Mount Vernon-Anacortes.
0.9% less expensive
Eugene-Springfield, OR is 0.9% less expensive than Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 101.6 vs 102.4). A $100,000 salary in Mount Vernon-Anacortes buys about the same as $99,146 in Eugene-Springfield; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 102.4 (Mount Vernon-Anacortes) vs 101.6 (Eugene-Springfield)
- $100k in Mount Vernon-Anacortes ≈ $99,146 purchasing power in Eugene-Springfield
- Rents drives the gap (-9.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:OR 102.4→101.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WA × OR
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 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.
Mount Vernon-Anacortes
102.4
Cost Index
Eugene-Springfield
101.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA and Eugene-Springfield, OR are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.9 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Eugene-Springfield is 9.8 points lower. 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 exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
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 Mount Vernon-Anacortes corresponds to $99,146 in Eugene-Springfield.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 105.0
- Eugene-Springfield
- 105.3
Diff +0.2 RPP
Services
- Eugene-Springfield
- 102.5
Diff +6.5 RPP
Rents
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 108.2
- Eugene-Springfield
- 98.3
Diff -9.8 RPP
| Category | Mount Vernon-Anacortes | Eugene-Springfield | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 102.4 | 101.6 | -0.9 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 105.3 | +0.2 |
| Services | 96.0 | 102.5 | +6.5 |
| Rents | 108.2 | 98.3 | -9.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 102.4
Eugene-Springfield 101.6
Goods
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 105.0
Eugene-Springfield 105.3
Services
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 96.0
Eugene-Springfield 102.5
Rents
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 108.2
Eugene-Springfield 98.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Mount Vernon-Anacortes and Eugene-Springfield share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 6.5 to 0.9 RPP points. Mount Vernon-Anacortes remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 9.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (19.2 to 9.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Mount Vernon-Anacortes RPP | Eugene-Springfield RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 102.9 | 96.4 | 6.5 points Mount Vernon-Anacortes higher |
| 2012 | 98.7 | 100.5 | 1.8 points Eugene-Springfield higher |
| 2016 | 101.4 | 98.0 | 3.5 points Mount Vernon-Anacortes higher |
| 2020 | 102.1 | 100.6 | 1.6 points Mount Vernon-Anacortes higher |
| 2024 | 102.4 | 101.6 | 0.9 points Mount Vernon-Anacortes 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 Mount Vernon-Anacortes would need to be in Eugene-Springfield for the same purchasing power:
| In Mount Vernon-Anacortes | In Eugene-Springfield | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,573 | $-427 |
| $75,000 | $74,359 | $-641 |
| $100,000 | $99,146 | $-854 |
| $150,000 | $148,719 | $-1,281 |
$ in Mount Vernon-Anacortes = in Eugene-Springfield
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (102.4 → 101.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Eugene-Springfield more expensive than Mount Vernon-Anacortes?
Eugene-Springfield is 0.9% less expensive than Mount Vernon-Anacortes. The overall cost index is 101.6 vs 102.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Eugene-Springfield equals $100K in Mount Vernon-Anacortes?
A $100,000 salary in Mount Vernon-Anacortes has the same purchasing power as $99,146 in Eugene-Springfield. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Mount Vernon-Anacortes and Eugene-Springfield?
Rents in Mount Vernon-Anacortes are indexed at 108.2 while Eugene-Springfield is at 98.3 (national average = 100). Mount Vernon-Anacortes 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.