Overall
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 103.7
Diff +3.2 RPP
Norwich-New London-Willimantic vs Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 3.2% more expensive than Norwich-New London-Willimantic.
3.2% more expensive
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA is 3.2% more expensive than Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.7 vs 100.4). A $100,000 salary in Norwich-New London-Willimantic buys about the same as $103,211 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 100.4 (Norwich-New London-Willimantic) vs 103.7 (Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater)
- $100k in Norwich-New London-Willimantic ≈ $103,211 purchasing power in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- Services drives the gap (-56.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CT:WA 100.4→103.7
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE CT × WA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- 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
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 105.0
Diff +7.7 RPP
Services
Diff -56.9 RPP
Rents
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 116.7
Diff +23.0 RPP
| Category | Norwich-New London-Willimantic | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 100.4 | 103.7 | +3.2 |
| Goods | 97.3 | 105.0 | +7.7 |
| Services | 148.6 | 91.7 | -56.9 |
| Rents | 93.7 | 116.7 | +23.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Norwich-New London-Willimantic 100.4
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 103.7
Goods
Norwich-New London-Willimantic 97.3
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 105.0
Services
Norwich-New London-Willimantic 148.6
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 91.7
Rents
Norwich-New London-Willimantic 93.7
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 116.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 56.9 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA is 3.2% more expensive than Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.2-point overall gap.
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.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Norwich-New London-Willimantic to $103,211 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Norwich-New London-Willimantic
100.4
Cost Index
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
103.7
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Norwich-New London-Willimantic would need to be in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater for the same purchasing power:
| In Norwich-New London-Willimantic | In Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,605 | +$1,605 |
| $75,000 | $77,408 | +$2,408 |
| $100,000 | $103,211 | +$3,211 |
| $150,000 | $154,816 | +$4,816 |
$ in Norwich-New London-Willimantic = in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (100.4 → 103.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Norwich-New London-Willimantic and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 1.7 to 3.2 RPP points. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 26.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (2.9 to 23.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Norwich-New London-Willimantic RPP | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 103.7 | 105.4 | 1.7 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2012 | 101.7 | 101.3 | 0.4 points Norwich-New London-Willimantic higher |
| 2016 | 102.6 | 106.0 | 3.4 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2020 | 102.1 | 101.9 | 0.2 points Norwich-New London-Willimantic higher |
| 2024 | 100.4 | 103.7 | 3.2 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 Norwich-New London-Willimantic?
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 3.2% more expensive than Norwich-New London-Willimantic. The overall cost index is 103.7 vs 100.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater equals $100K in Norwich-New London-Willimantic?
A $100,000 salary in Norwich-New London-Willimantic has the same purchasing power as $103,211 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Norwich-New London-Willimantic and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater?
Rents in Norwich-New London-Willimantic are indexed at 93.7 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.