Overall
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 103.7
- Springfield
- 96.1
Diff -7.6 RPP
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater vs Springfield
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Springfield is 7.3% less expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater.
7.3% less expensive
Springfield, MA is 7.3% less expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.1 vs 103.7). A $100,000 salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater buys about the same as $92,660 in Springfield; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 103.7 (Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater) vs 96.1 (Springfield)
- $100k in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater ≈ $92,660 purchasing power in Springfield
- Services drives the gap (+63.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:MA 103.7→96.1
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE WA × MA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 105.0
- Springfield
- 97.0
Diff -8.0 RPP
Services
- Springfield
- 155.0
Diff +63.3 RPP
Rents
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 116.7
- Springfield
- 75.8
Diff -40.9 RPP
| Category | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Springfield | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.7 | 96.1 | -7.6 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 97.0 | -8.0 |
| Services | 91.7 | 155.0 | +63.3 |
| Rents | 116.7 | 75.8 | -40.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 103.7
Springfield 96.1
Goods
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 105.0
Springfield 97.0
Services
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 91.7
Springfield 155.0
Rents
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 116.7
Springfield 75.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Springfield is 63.3 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Springfield, MA is 7.3% less expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 7.6-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is above 100 while Springfield is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 $92,660 in Springfield, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
103.7
Cost Index
Springfield
96.1
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater would need to be in Springfield for the same purchasing power:
| In Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | In Springfield | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,330 | $-3,670 |
| $75,000 | $69,495 | $-5,505 |
| $100,000 | $92,660 | $-7,340 |
| $150,000 | $138,991 | $-11,009 |
$ in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater = in Springfield
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.7 → 96.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater and Springfield share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 5.9 to 7.6 RPP points. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 16.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (24.7 to 40.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater RPP | Springfield RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 105.4 | 99.5 | 5.9 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2012 | 101.3 | 97.8 | 3.6 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2016 | 106.0 | 99.4 | 6.7 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2020 | 101.9 | 99.1 | 2.8 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2024 | 103.7 | 96.1 | 7.6 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 Springfield more expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater?
Springfield is 7.3% less expensive than Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater. The overall cost index is 96.1 vs 103.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Springfield equals $100K in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater?
A $100,000 salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater has the same purchasing power as $92,660 in Springfield. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater and Springfield?
Rents in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater are indexed at 116.7 while Springfield is at 75.8 (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.