Overall
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 102.4
Diff -4.2 RPP
Mount Vernon-Anacortes vs Prescott Valley-Prescott
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Prescott Valley-Prescott is 4.1% less expensive than Mount Vernon-Anacortes.
4.1% less expensive
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ 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 $95,912 in Prescott Valley-Prescott; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 102.4 (Mount Vernon-Anacortes) vs 98.3 (Prescott Valley-Prescott)
- $100k in Mount Vernon-Anacortes ≈ $95,912 purchasing power in Prescott Valley-Prescott
- Rents drives the gap (-9.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:AZ 102.4→98.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE WA × AZ
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Mount Vernon-Anacortes would need to be in Prescott Valley-Prescott for the same purchasing power:
| In Mount Vernon-Anacortes | In Prescott Valley-Prescott | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,956 | $-2,044 |
| $75,000 | $71,934 | $-3,066 |
| $100,000 | $95,912 | $-4,088 |
| $150,000 | $143,868 | $-6,132 |
$ in Mount Vernon-Anacortes = in Prescott Valley-Prescott
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (102.4 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ 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 Prescott Valley-Prescott is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Prescott Valley-Prescott 9.4 points lower than Mount Vernon-Anacortes. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
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 $95,912 in Prescott Valley-Prescott.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 105.0
Diff -8.8 RPP
Services
Diff -4.6 RPP
Rents
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 108.2
Diff -9.4 RPP
| Category | Mount Vernon-Anacortes | Prescott Valley-Prescott | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 102.4 | 98.3 | -4.2 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 96.2 | -8.8 |
| Services | 96.0 | 91.5 | -4.6 |
| Rents | 108.2 | 98.8 | -9.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 102.4
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.3
Goods
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 105.0
Prescott Valley-Prescott 96.2
Services
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 96.0
Prescott Valley-Prescott 91.5
Rents
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 108.2
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Mount Vernon-Anacortes
102.4
Cost Index
Prescott Valley-Prescott
98.3
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Prescott Valley-Prescott more expensive than Mount Vernon-Anacortes?
Prescott Valley-Prescott 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 Prescott Valley-Prescott equals $100K in Mount Vernon-Anacortes?
A $100,000 salary in Mount Vernon-Anacortes has the same purchasing power as $95,912 in Prescott Valley-Prescott. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Mount Vernon-Anacortes and Prescott Valley-Prescott?
Rents in Mount Vernon-Anacortes are indexed at 108.2 while Prescott Valley-Prescott is at 98.8 (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.