Overall
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 102.4
- Lancaster
- 98.3
Diff -4.2 RPP
Mount Vernon-Anacortes vs Lancaster
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lancaster is 4.1% less expensive than Mount Vernon-Anacortes.
4.1% less expensive
Lancaster, PA is 4.1% less expensive than Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 102.4). A $100,000 salary in Mount Vernon-Anacortes buys about the same as $95,914 in Lancaster; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 102.4 (Mount Vernon-Anacortes) vs 98.3 (Lancaster)
- $100k in Mount Vernon-Anacortes ≈ $95,914 purchasing power in Lancaster
- Rents drives the gap (-14.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:PA 102.4→98.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE WA × 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
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 105.0
- Lancaster
- 100.7
Diff -4.3 RPP
Services
- Lancaster
- 107.3
Diff +11.3 RPP
Rents
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 108.2
- Lancaster
- 93.8
Diff -14.4 RPP
| Category | Mount Vernon-Anacortes | Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 102.4 | 98.3 | -4.2 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 100.7 | -4.3 |
| Services | 96.0 | 107.3 | +11.3 |
| Rents | 108.2 | 93.8 | -14.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 102.4
Lancaster 98.3
Goods
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 105.0
Lancaster 100.7
Services
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 96.0
Lancaster 107.3
Rents
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 108.2
Lancaster 93.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Lancaster is 14.4 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Lancaster, PA is 4.1% less expensive than Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.2-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Mount Vernon-Anacortes is above 100 while Lancaster 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 Mount Vernon-Anacortes corresponds to $95,914 in Lancaster.
Mount Vernon-Anacortes
102.4
Cost Index
Lancaster
98.3
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Mount Vernon-Anacortes would need to be in Lancaster for the same purchasing power:
| In Mount Vernon-Anacortes | In Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,957 | $-2,043 |
| $75,000 | $71,935 | $-3,065 |
| $100,000 | $95,914 | $-4,086 |
| $150,000 | $143,871 | $-6,129 |
$ in Mount Vernon-Anacortes = in Lancaster
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (102.4 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lancaster more expensive than Mount Vernon-Anacortes?
Lancaster is 4.1% less expensive than Mount Vernon-Anacortes. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 102.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lancaster equals $100K in Mount Vernon-Anacortes?
A $100,000 salary in Mount Vernon-Anacortes has the same purchasing power as $95,914 in Lancaster. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Mount Vernon-Anacortes and Lancaster?
Rents in Mount Vernon-Anacortes are indexed at 108.2 while Lancaster is at 93.8 (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.