Overall
- Albuquerque
- 95.5
Diff -2.7 RPP
Prescott Valley-Prescott vs Albuquerque
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Albuquerque is 2.8% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott.
2.8% less expensive
Albuquerque, NM is 2.8% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 95.5 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott buys about the same as $97,243 in Albuquerque; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Prescott Valley-Prescott) vs 95.5 (Albuquerque)
- $100k in Prescott Valley-Prescott ≈ $97,243 purchasing power in Albuquerque
- Services drives the gap (-13.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AZ:NM 98.3→95.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE AZ × NM
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Albuquerque, NM is 2.8% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.7-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Albuquerque 13.6 points lower than Prescott Valley-Prescott. 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 Prescott Valley-Prescott to $97,243 in Albuquerque, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Albuquerque
- 96.1
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
- Albuquerque
- 77.9
Diff -13.6 RPP
Rents
- Albuquerque
- 89.2
Diff -9.6 RPP
| Category | Prescott Valley-Prescott | Albuquerque | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 95.5 | -2.7 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.1 | -0.1 |
| Services | 91.5 | 77.9 | -13.6 |
| Rents | 98.8 | 89.2 | -9.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.3
Albuquerque 95.5
Goods
Prescott Valley-Prescott 96.2
Albuquerque 96.1
Services
Prescott Valley-Prescott 91.5
Albuquerque 77.9
Rents
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.8
Albuquerque 89.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott would need to be in Albuquerque for the same purchasing power:
| In Prescott Valley-Prescott | In Albuquerque | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,621 | $-1,379 |
| $75,000 | $72,932 | $-2,068 |
| $100,000 | $97,243 | $-2,757 |
| $150,000 | $145,864 | $-4,136 |
$ in Prescott Valley-Prescott = in Albuquerque
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 95.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Prescott Valley-Prescott
98.3
Cost Index
Albuquerque
95.5
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Albuquerque more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott?
Albuquerque is 2.8% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott. The overall cost index is 95.5 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Albuquerque equals $100K in Prescott Valley-Prescott?
A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott has the same purchasing power as $97,243 in Albuquerque. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Prescott Valley-Prescott and Albuquerque?
Rents in Prescott Valley-Prescott are indexed at 98.8 while Albuquerque is at 89.2 (national average = 100). Prescott Valley-Prescott 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.