Overall
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 103.7
- Provo-Orem-Lehi
- 98.2
Diff -5.4 RPP
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater vs Provo-Orem-Lehi
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Provo-Orem-Lehi is 5.2% less expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater.
5.2% less expensive
Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT is 5.2% less expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.2 vs 103.7). A $100,000 salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater buys about the same as $94,755 in Provo-Orem-Lehi; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 103.7 (Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater) vs 98.2 (Provo-Orem-Lehi)
- $100k in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater ≈ $94,755 purchasing power in Provo-Orem-Lehi
- Services drives the gap (-13.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:UT 103.7→98.2
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE WA × UT
- SERVICES-LED Services-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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT is 5.2% less expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.4-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is above 100 while Provo-Orem-Lehi is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Services leads the difference, with Provo-Orem-Lehi 13.1 points lower 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 $94,755 in Provo-Orem-Lehi, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater and Provo-Orem-Lehi share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 8.2 to 5.4 RPP points. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 5.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (7.3 to 12.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater RPP | Provo-Orem-Lehi RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 105.4 | 97.1 | 8.2 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2012 | 101.3 | 100.4 | 0.9 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2016 | 106.0 | 97.0 | 9.0 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2020 | 101.9 | 94.8 | 7.1 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2024 | 103.7 | 98.2 | 5.4 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 105.0
- Provo-Orem-Lehi
- 96.4
Diff -8.6 RPP
Services
- Provo-Orem-Lehi
- 78.6
Diff -13.1 RPP
Rents
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 116.7
- Provo-Orem-Lehi
- 104.1
Diff -12.6 RPP
| Category | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Provo-Orem-Lehi | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.7 | 98.2 | -5.4 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 96.4 | -8.6 |
| Services | 91.7 | 78.6 | -13.1 |
| Rents | 116.7 | 104.1 | -12.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 103.7
Provo-Orem-Lehi 98.2
Goods
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 105.0
Provo-Orem-Lehi 96.4
Services
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 91.7
Provo-Orem-Lehi 78.6
Rents
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 116.7
Provo-Orem-Lehi 104.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater would need to be in Provo-Orem-Lehi for the same purchasing power:
| In Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | In Provo-Orem-Lehi | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,377 | $-2,623 |
| $75,000 | $71,066 | $-3,934 |
| $100,000 | $94,755 | $-5,245 |
| $150,000 | $142,132 | $-7,868 |
$ in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater = in Provo-Orem-Lehi
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.7 → 98.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
103.7
Cost Index
Provo-Orem-Lehi
98.2
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Provo-Orem-Lehi more expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater?
Provo-Orem-Lehi is 5.2% less expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater. The overall cost index is 98.2 vs 103.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Provo-Orem-Lehi equals $100K in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater?
A $100,000 salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater has the same purchasing power as $94,755 in Provo-Orem-Lehi. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater and Provo-Orem-Lehi?
Rents in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater are indexed at 116.7 while Provo-Orem-Lehi is at 104.1 (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.