Overall
- Pittsfield
- 95.1
- Lancaster
- 98.3
Diff +3.2 RPP
Pittsfield vs Lancaster
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lancaster is 3.3% more expensive than Pittsfield.
3.3% more expensive
Lancaster, PA is 3.3% more expensive than Pittsfield, MA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 95.1). A $100,000 salary in Pittsfield buys about the same as $103,313 in Lancaster; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 95.1 (Pittsfield) vs 98.3 (Lancaster)
- $100k in Pittsfield ≈ $103,313 purchasing power in Lancaster
- Services drives the gap (-46.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MA:PA 95.1→98.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE MA × PA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Pittsfield
- 97.0
- Lancaster
- 100.7
Diff +3.7 RPP
Services
- Pittsfield
- 153.7
- Lancaster
- 107.3
Diff -46.4 RPP
Rents
- Pittsfield
- 73.5
- Lancaster
- 93.8
Diff +20.4 RPP
| Category | Pittsfield | Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 95.1 | 98.3 | +3.2 |
| Goods | 97.0 | 100.7 | +3.7 |
| Services | 153.7 | 107.3 | -46.4 |
| Rents | 73.5 | 93.8 | +20.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Pittsfield 95.1
Lancaster 98.3
Goods
Pittsfield 97.0
Lancaster 100.7
Services
Pittsfield 153.7
Lancaster 107.3
Rents
Pittsfield 73.5
Lancaster 93.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Lancaster is 46.4 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Lancaster, PA is 3.3% more expensive than Pittsfield, MA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.2-point overall gap.
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.
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 Pittsfield to $103,313 in Lancaster, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Pittsfield
95.1
Cost Index
Lancaster
98.3
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Pittsfield would need to be in Lancaster for the same purchasing power:
| In Pittsfield | In Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,657 | +$1,657 |
| $75,000 | $77,485 | +$2,485 |
| $100,000 | $103,313 | +$3,313 |
| $150,000 | $154,970 | +$4,970 |
$ in Pittsfield = in Lancaster
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (95.1 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Pittsfield and Lancaster share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 0.5 to 3.2 RPP points. Lancaster remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 17.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (3.1 to 20.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Pittsfield RPP | Lancaster RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.6 | 100.2 | 0.5 points Lancaster higher |
| 2012 | 97.8 | 97.8 | 0.0 points Lancaster higher |
| 2016 | 100.5 | 99.4 | 1.1 points Pittsfield higher |
| 2020 | 99.5 | 97.9 | 1.6 points Pittsfield higher |
| 2024 | 95.1 | 98.3 | 3.2 points Lancaster 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 Lancaster more expensive than Pittsfield?
Lancaster is 3.3% more expensive than Pittsfield. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 95.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lancaster equals $100K in Pittsfield?
A $100,000 salary in Pittsfield has the same purchasing power as $103,313 in Lancaster. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Pittsfield and Lancaster?
Rents in Pittsfield are indexed at 73.5 while Lancaster is at 93.8 (national average = 100). Lancaster 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.