Overall
Diff +6.2 RPP
Prescott Valley-Prescott vs Baltimore-Columbia-Towson
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson is 6.3% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott.
6.3% more expensive
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD is 6.3% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 104.5 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott buys about the same as $106,343 in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Prescott Valley-Prescott) vs 104.5 (Baltimore-Columbia-Towson)
- $100k in Prescott Valley-Prescott ≈ $106,343 purchasing power in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson
- Rents drives the gap (+19.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AZ:MD 98.3→104.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE AZ × MD
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott would need to be in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson for the same purchasing power:
| In Prescott Valley-Prescott | In Baltimore-Columbia-Towson | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,171 | +$3,171 |
| $75,000 | $79,757 | +$4,757 |
| $100,000 | $106,343 | +$6,343 |
| $150,000 | $159,514 | +$9,514 |
$ in Prescott Valley-Prescott = in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 104.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD is 6.3% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.2-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Baltimore-Columbia-Towson is above 100 while Prescott Valley-Prescott is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 19.4 points higher 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 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 Prescott Valley-Prescott corresponds to $106,343 in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +6.1 RPP
Services
Diff +18.8 RPP
Rents
Diff +19.4 RPP
| Category | Prescott Valley-Prescott | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 104.5 | +6.2 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 102.4 | +6.1 |
| Services | 91.5 | 110.2 | +18.8 |
| Rents | 98.8 | 118.2 | +19.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.3
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 104.5
Goods
Prescott Valley-Prescott 96.2
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 102.4
Services
Prescott Valley-Prescott 91.5
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 110.2
Rents
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.8
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 118.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Prescott Valley-Prescott
98.3
Cost Index
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson
104.5
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Prescott Valley-Prescott and Baltimore-Columbia-Towson share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 3.4 to 6.2 RPP points. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 18.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (36.7 to 18.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Prescott Valley-Prescott RPP | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 103.0 | 106.4 | 3.4 points Baltimore-Columbia-Towson higher |
| 2012 | 96.5 | 106.5 | 9.9 points Baltimore-Columbia-Towson higher |
| 2016 | 98.6 | 106.1 | 7.5 points Baltimore-Columbia-Towson higher |
| 2020 | 93.2 | 105.4 | 12.2 points Baltimore-Columbia-Towson higher |
| 2024 | 98.3 | 104.5 | 6.2 points Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 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 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott?
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson is 6.3% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott. The overall cost index is 104.5 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson equals $100K in Prescott Valley-Prescott?
A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott has the same purchasing power as $106,343 in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Prescott Valley-Prescott and Baltimore-Columbia-Towson?
Rents in Prescott Valley-Prescott are indexed at 98.8 while Baltimore-Columbia-Towson is at 118.2 (national average = 100). Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 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.