Overall
- Parkersburg-Vienna
- 87.1
- Grand Forks
- 86.7
Diff -0.4 RPP
Parkersburg-Vienna vs Grand Forks
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Grand Forks is 0.5% less expensive than Parkersburg-Vienna.
0.5% less expensive
Grand Forks, ND-MN is 0.5% less expensive than Parkersburg-Vienna, WV on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 86.7 vs 87.1). A $100,000 salary in Parkersburg-Vienna buys about the same as $99,537 in Grand Forks; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.1 (Parkersburg-Vienna) vs 86.7 (Grand Forks)
- $100k in Parkersburg-Vienna ≈ $99,537 purchasing power in Grand Forks
- Services drives the gap (-15.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WV:ND 87.1→86.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WV × ND
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 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.
Parkersburg-Vienna
87.1
Cost Index
Grand Forks
86.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Parkersburg-Vienna, WV and Grand Forks, ND-MN are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Grand Forks is 15.8 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 remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
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 Parkersburg-Vienna to $99,537 in Grand Forks, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Parkersburg-Vienna
- 96.3
- Grand Forks
- 95.6
Diff -0.6 RPP
Services
- Parkersburg-Vienna
- 92.9
- Grand Forks
- 77.1
Diff -15.8 RPP
Rents
- Parkersburg-Vienna
- 45.9
- Grand Forks
- 59.7
Diff +13.8 RPP
| Category | Parkersburg-Vienna | Grand Forks | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.1 | 86.7 | -0.4 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 95.6 | -0.6 |
| Services | 92.9 | 77.1 | -15.8 |
| Rents | 45.9 | 59.7 | +13.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Parkersburg-Vienna 87.1
Grand Forks 86.7
Goods
Parkersburg-Vienna 96.3
Grand Forks 95.6
Services
Parkersburg-Vienna 92.9
Grand Forks 77.1
Rents
Parkersburg-Vienna 45.9
Grand Forks 59.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Parkersburg-Vienna and Grand Forks share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 8.6 to 0.4 RPP points. Parkersburg-Vienna remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 22.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (6.5 to 15.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Parkersburg-Vienna RPP | Grand Forks RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 87.0 | 95.6 | 8.6 points Grand Forks higher |
| 2012 | 91.6 | 89.7 | 1.9 points Parkersburg-Vienna higher |
| 2016 | 92.7 | 92.2 | 0.5 points Parkersburg-Vienna higher |
| 2020 | 86.2 | 91.2 | 5.1 points Grand Forks higher |
| 2024 | 87.1 | 86.7 | 0.4 points Parkersburg-Vienna 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 Parkersburg-Vienna would need to be in Grand Forks for the same purchasing power:
| In Parkersburg-Vienna | In Grand Forks | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,769 | $-231 |
| $75,000 | $74,653 | $-347 |
| $100,000 | $99,537 | $-463 |
| $150,000 | $149,306 | $-694 |
$ in Parkersburg-Vienna = in Grand Forks
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.1 → 86.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Grand Forks more expensive than Parkersburg-Vienna?
Grand Forks is 0.5% less expensive than Parkersburg-Vienna. The overall cost index is 86.7 vs 87.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Grand Forks equals $100K in Parkersburg-Vienna?
A $100,000 salary in Parkersburg-Vienna has the same purchasing power as $99,537 in Grand Forks. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Parkersburg-Vienna and Grand Forks?
Rents in Parkersburg-Vienna are indexed at 45.9 while Grand Forks is at 59.7 (national average = 100). Grand Forks 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.