Overall
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 103.7
Diff +6.9 RPP
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater vs Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura is 6.6% more expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater.
6.6% more expensive
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA is 6.6% more expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 110.5 vs 103.7). A $100,000 salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater buys about the same as $106,621 in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 103.7 (Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater) vs 110.5 (Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura)
- $100k in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater ≈ $106,621 purchasing power in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
- Services drives the gap (+61.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:CA 103.7→110.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE WA × CA
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA is 6.6% more expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.9-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 61.2 points higher than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater. 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater to $106,621 in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater and Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 4.1 to 6.9 RPP points. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 28.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (32.8 to 61.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater RPP | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 105.4 | 109.5 | 4.1 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura higher |
| 2012 | 101.3 | 110.4 | 9.1 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura higher |
| 2016 | 106.0 | 111.2 | 5.1 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura higher |
| 2020 | 101.9 | 111.3 | 9.4 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura higher |
| 2024 | 103.7 | 110.5 | 6.9 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 105.0
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
Diff +61.2 RPP
Rents
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 116.7
Diff +54.4 RPP
| Category | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.7 | 110.5 | +6.9 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 105.2 | +0.1 |
| Services | 91.7 | 152.9 | +61.2 |
| Rents | 116.7 | 171.1 | +54.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 103.7
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 110.5
Goods
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 105.0
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 105.2
Services
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 91.7
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 152.9
Rents
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 116.7
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 171.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater would need to be in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura for the same purchasing power:
| In Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | In Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,311 | +$3,311 |
| $75,000 | $79,966 | +$4,966 |
| $100,000 | $106,621 | +$6,621 |
| $150,000 | $159,932 | +$9,932 |
$ in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater = in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.7 → 110.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
103.7
Cost Index
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
110.5
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura more expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater?
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura is 6.6% more expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater. The overall cost index is 110.5 vs 103.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura equals $100K in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater?
A $100,000 salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater has the same purchasing power as $106,621 in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater and Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura?
Rents in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater are indexed at 116.7 while Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura is at 171.1 (national average = 100). Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 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.