Overall
- Charlottesville
- 99.1
Diff +0.9 RPP
Prescott Valley-Prescott vs Charlottesville
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Charlottesville is 0.9% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott.
0.9% more expensive
Charlottesville, VA is 0.9% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 99.1 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott buys about the same as $100,907 in Charlottesville; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Prescott Valley-Prescott) vs 99.1 (Charlottesville)
- $100k in Prescott Valley-Prescott ≈ $100,907 purchasing power in Charlottesville
- Rents drives the gap (+8.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AZ:VA 98.3→99.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AZ × VA
- 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.
Prescott Valley-Prescott
98.3
Cost Index
Charlottesville
99.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ and Charlottesville, VA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.9 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Charlottesville is 8.3 points higher. But services 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 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 $100,907 in Charlottesville.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Charlottesville
- 96.8
Diff +0.5 RPP
Services
- Charlottesville
- 89.0
Diff -2.5 RPP
Rents
- Charlottesville
- 107.0
Diff +8.3 RPP
| Category | Prescott Valley-Prescott | Charlottesville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 99.1 | +0.9 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.8 | +0.5 |
| Services | 91.5 | 89.0 | -2.5 |
| Rents | 98.8 | 107.0 | +8.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.3
Charlottesville 99.1
Goods
Prescott Valley-Prescott 96.2
Charlottesville 96.8
Services
Prescott Valley-Prescott 91.5
Charlottesville 89.0
Rents
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.8
Charlottesville 107.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott would need to be in Charlottesville for the same purchasing power:
| In Prescott Valley-Prescott | In Charlottesville | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,453 | +$453 |
| $75,000 | $75,680 | +$680 |
| $100,000 | $100,907 | +$907 |
| $150,000 | $151,360 | +$1,360 |
$ in Prescott Valley-Prescott = in Charlottesville
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 99.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Charlottesville more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott?
Charlottesville is 0.9% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott. The overall cost index is 99.1 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Charlottesville equals $100K in Prescott Valley-Prescott?
A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott has the same purchasing power as $100,907 in Charlottesville. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Prescott Valley-Prescott and Charlottesville?
Rents in Prescott Valley-Prescott are indexed at 98.8 while Charlottesville is at 107.0 (national average = 100). Charlottesville 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.