Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura vs Kahului-Wailuku

Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Kahului-Wailuku is 1% less expensive than Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura.

1% less expensive

Kahului-Wailuku, HI is 1% less expensive than Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 109.4 vs 110.5). A $100,000 salary in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura buys about the same as $98,968 in Kahului-Wailuku; the largest component gap is rents.

  • Overall RPP 110.5 (Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura) vs 109.4 (Kahului-Wailuku)
  • $100k in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura ≈ $98,968 purchasing power in Kahului-Wailuku
  • Rents drives the gap (-51.9 RPP points)

RPP parity plate

Pair CA:HI 110.5→109.4

PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR

  • PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
  • CROSS-STATE CA × HI
  • 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.

Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
110.5
Cost Index
Kahului-Wailuku
109.4
Cost Index

What This Comparison Actually Tells You

Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA and Kahului-Wailuku, HI are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.

Rents creates the largest separation: Kahului-Wailuku is 51.9 points lower. But services and goods 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 housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura corresponds to $98,968 in Kahului-Wailuku.

Category Breakdown

Visual Comparison

Overall
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
110.5
Kahului-Wailuku
109.4
Goods
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
105.2
Kahului-Wailuku
111.6
Services
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
152.9
Kahului-Wailuku
190.6
Rents
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
171.1
Kahului-Wailuku
119.2

Vertical line = national average (100)

Salary Equivalents

What a salary in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura would need to be in Kahului-Wailuku for the same purchasing power:

In Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura In Kahului-Wailuku Difference
$50,000 $49,484 $-516
$75,000 $74,226 $-774
$100,000 $98,968 $-1,032
$150,000 $148,452 $-1,548
$ in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura = in Kahului-Wailuku

Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (110.5 → 109.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Kahului-Wailuku more expensive than Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura?

Kahului-Wailuku is 1% less expensive than Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura. The overall cost index is 109.4 vs 110.5 (national average = 100).

What salary in Kahului-Wailuku equals $100K in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura?

A $100,000 salary in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura has the same purchasing power as $98,968 in Kahului-Wailuku. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.

How do rents compare between Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura and Kahului-Wailuku?

Rents in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura are indexed at 171.1 while Kahului-Wailuku is at 119.2 (national average = 100). Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura has higher rents.

Data sourced from official public datasets, Regional Price Parities (2024), index where national average = 100. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCost. See our methodology for details.

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.