Overall
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 103.7
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers
- 102.3
Diff -1.3 RPP
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater vs Cape Coral-Fort Myers
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Cape Coral-Fort Myers is 1.3% less expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater.
1.3% less expensive
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL is 1.3% less expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 102.3 vs 103.7). A $100,000 salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater buys about the same as $98,726 in Cape Coral-Fort Myers; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 103.7 (Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater) vs 102.3 (Cape Coral-Fort Myers)
- $100k in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater ≈ $98,726 purchasing power in Cape Coral-Fort Myers
- Goods drives the gap (-8.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:FL 103.7→102.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WA × FL
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
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.
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
103.7
Cost Index
Cape Coral-Fort Myers
102.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA and Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Goods creates the largest separation: Cape Coral-Fort Myers is 8.8 points lower. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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.
For a goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $98,726 in Cape Coral-Fort Myers as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 105.0
Diff -8.8 RPP
Services
Diff -4.8 RPP
Rents
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 116.7
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers
- 125.1
Diff +8.4 RPP
| Category | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Cape Coral-Fort Myers | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.7 | 102.3 | -1.3 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 96.2 | -8.8 |
| Services | 91.7 | 86.9 | -4.8 |
| Rents | 116.7 | 125.1 | +8.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 103.7
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 102.3
Goods
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 105.0
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 96.2
Services
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 91.7
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 86.9
Rents
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 116.7
Cape Coral-Fort Myers 125.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater and Cape Coral-Fort Myers share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 5.4 to 1.3 RPP points. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 19.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (14.2 to 4.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater RPP | Cape Coral-Fort Myers RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 105.4 | 99.9 | 5.4 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2012 | 101.3 | 97.9 | 3.4 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2016 | 106.0 | 101.0 | 5.0 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2020 | 101.9 | 98.1 | 3.8 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2024 | 103.7 | 102.3 | 1.3 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater would need to be in Cape Coral-Fort Myers for the same purchasing power:
| In Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | In Cape Coral-Fort Myers | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,363 | $-637 |
| $75,000 | $74,044 | $-956 |
| $100,000 | $98,726 | $-1,274 |
| $150,000 | $148,089 | $-1,911 |
$ in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater = in Cape Coral-Fort Myers
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.7 → 102.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cape Coral-Fort Myers more expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater?
Cape Coral-Fort Myers is 1.3% less expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater. The overall cost index is 102.3 vs 103.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Cape Coral-Fort Myers equals $100K in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater?
A $100,000 salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater has the same purchasing power as $98,726 in Cape Coral-Fort Myers. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater and Cape Coral-Fort Myers?
Rents in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater are indexed at 116.7 while Cape Coral-Fort Myers is at 125.1 (national average = 100). Cape Coral-Fort Myers 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.