Overall
- Bellingham
- 103.3
Diff +5.1 RPP
Prescott Valley-Prescott vs Bellingham
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Bellingham is 5.2% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott.
5.2% more expensive
Bellingham, WA is 5.2% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.3 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott buys about the same as $105,169 in Bellingham; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Prescott Valley-Prescott) vs 103.3 (Bellingham)
- $100k in Prescott Valley-Prescott ≈ $105,169 purchasing power in Bellingham
- Rents drives the gap (+14.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AZ:WA 98.3→103.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE AZ × WA
- 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 Bellingham for the same purchasing power:
| In Prescott Valley-Prescott | In Bellingham | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,585 | +$2,585 |
| $75,000 | $78,877 | +$3,877 |
| $100,000 | $105,169 | +$5,169 |
| $150,000 | $157,754 | +$7,754 |
$ in Prescott Valley-Prescott = in Bellingham
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 103.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Bellingham, WA is 5.2% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.1-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Bellingham 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 Bellingham 14.2 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 $105,169 in Bellingham.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Bellingham
- 105.0
Diff +8.8 RPP
Services
- Bellingham
- 99.9
Diff +8.4 RPP
Rents
- Bellingham
- 112.9
Diff +14.2 RPP
| Category | Prescott Valley-Prescott | Bellingham | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 103.3 | +5.1 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 105.0 | +8.8 |
| Services | 91.5 | 99.9 | +8.4 |
| Rents | 98.8 | 112.9 | +14.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.3
Bellingham 103.3
Goods
Prescott Valley-Prescott 96.2
Bellingham 105.0
Services
Prescott Valley-Prescott 91.5
Bellingham 99.9
Rents
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.8
Bellingham 112.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
Prescott Valley-Prescott
98.3
Cost Index
Bellingham
103.3
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bellingham more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott?
Bellingham is 5.2% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott. The overall cost index is 103.3 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Bellingham equals $100K in Prescott Valley-Prescott?
A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott has the same purchasing power as $105,169 in Bellingham. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Prescott Valley-Prescott and Bellingham?
Rents in Prescott Valley-Prescott are indexed at 98.8 while Bellingham is at 112.9 (national average = 100). Bellingham 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.