Overall
- New Orleans-Metairie
- 92.6
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 103.7
Diff +11.1 RPP
New Orleans-Metairie vs Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 12% more expensive than New Orleans-Metairie.
12% more expensive
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA is 12% more expensive than New Orleans-Metairie, LA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.7 vs 92.6). A $100,000 salary in New Orleans-Metairie buys about the same as $111,958 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 92.6 (New Orleans-Metairie) vs 103.7 (Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater)
- $100k in New Orleans-Metairie ≈ $111,958 purchasing power in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- Rents drives the gap (+30.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair LA:WA 92.6→103.7
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE LA × WA
- 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 New Orleans-Metairie would need to be in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater for the same purchasing power:
| In New Orleans-Metairie | In Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $55,979 | +$5,979 |
| $75,000 | $83,969 | +$8,969 |
| $100,000 | $111,958 | +$11,958 |
| $150,000 | $167,937 | +$17,937 |
$ in New Orleans-Metairie = in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.6 → 103.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
New Orleans-Metairie, LA and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 11.1 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is above 100 while New Orleans-Metairie is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 30.7 points higher than New Orleans-Metairie. 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 New Orleans-Metairie corresponds to $111,958 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- New Orleans-Metairie
- 93.7
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 105.0
Diff +11.3 RPP
Services
- New Orleans-Metairie
- 71.2
Diff +20.5 RPP
Rents
- New Orleans-Metairie
- 86.0
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 116.7
Diff +30.7 RPP
| Category | New Orleans-Metairie | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.6 | 103.7 | +11.1 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 105.0 | +11.3 |
| Services | 71.2 | 91.7 | +20.5 |
| Rents | 86.0 | 116.7 | +30.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
New Orleans-Metairie 92.6
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 103.7
Goods
New Orleans-Metairie 93.7
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 105.0
Services
New Orleans-Metairie 71.2
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 91.7
Rents
New Orleans-Metairie 86.0
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 116.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
New Orleans-Metairie
92.6
Cost Index
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
103.7
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
New Orleans-Metairie and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 7.1 to 11.1 RPP points. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 28.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (8.1 to 20.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | New Orleans-Metairie RPP | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.2 | 105.4 | 7.1 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2012 | 97.9 | 101.3 | 3.4 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2016 | 98.2 | 106.0 | 7.9 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2020 | 95.7 | 101.9 | 6.1 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2024 | 92.6 | 103.7 | 11.1 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 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 Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater more expensive than New Orleans-Metairie?
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 12% more expensive than New Orleans-Metairie. The overall cost index is 103.7 vs 92.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater equals $100K in New Orleans-Metairie?
A $100,000 salary in New Orleans-Metairie has the same purchasing power as $111,958 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between New Orleans-Metairie and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater?
Rents in New Orleans-Metairie are indexed at 86.0 while Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is at 116.7 (national average = 100). Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 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.