Overall
- Napa
- 112.6
- Grants Pass
- 97.8
Diff -14.8 RPP
Napa vs Grants Pass
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Grants Pass is 13.1% less expensive than Napa.
13.1% less expensive
Grants Pass, OR is 13.1% less expensive than Napa, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.8 vs 112.6). A $100,000 salary in Napa buys about the same as $86,856 in Grants Pass; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 112.6 (Napa) vs 97.8 (Grants Pass)
- $100k in Napa ≈ $86,856 purchasing power in Grants Pass
- Rents drives the gap (-117.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:OR 112.6→97.8
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE CA × OR
- 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
- Napa
- 105.2
- Grants Pass
- 105.3
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
- Napa
- 156.5
- Grants Pass
- 103.6
Diff -53.0 RPP
Rents
- Napa
- 197.4
- Grants Pass
- 79.9
Diff -117.5 RPP
| Category | Napa | Grants Pass | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 112.6 | 97.8 | -14.8 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 105.3 | +0.1 |
| Services | 156.5 | 103.6 | -53.0 |
| Rents | 197.4 | 79.9 | -117.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Napa 112.6
Grants Pass 97.8
Goods
Napa 105.2
Grants Pass 105.3
Services
Napa 156.5
Grants Pass 103.6
Rents
Napa 197.4
Grants Pass 79.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Grants Pass is 117.5 points lower. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Napa, CA and Grants Pass, OR sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 14.8 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Napa is above 100 while Grants Pass 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 Napa corresponds to $86,856 in Grants Pass.
Napa
112.6
Cost Index
Grants Pass
97.8
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Napa would need to be in Grants Pass for the same purchasing power:
| In Napa | In Grants Pass | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $43,428 | $-6,572 |
| $75,000 | $65,142 | $-9,858 |
| $100,000 | $86,856 | $-13,144 |
| $150,000 | $130,284 | $-19,716 |
$ in Napa = in Grants Pass
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (112.6 → 97.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Napa and Grants Pass share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 19.1 to 14.8 RPP points. Napa remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 58.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (59.1 to 117.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Napa RPP | Grants Pass RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 115.2 | 96.2 | 19.1 points Napa higher |
| 2012 | 111.6 | 96.1 | 15.6 points Napa higher |
| 2016 | 117.8 | 96.2 | 21.6 points Napa higher |
| 2020 | 112.2 | 95.0 | 17.2 points Napa higher |
| 2024 | 112.6 | 97.8 | 14.8 points Napa 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Grants Pass more expensive than Napa?
Grants Pass is 13.1% less expensive than Napa. The overall cost index is 97.8 vs 112.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Grants Pass equals $100K in Napa?
A $100,000 salary in Napa has the same purchasing power as $86,856 in Grants Pass. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Napa and Grants Pass?
Rents in Napa are indexed at 197.4 while Grants Pass is at 79.9 (national average = 100). Napa 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.