Overall
- Harrisonburg
- 94.9
Diff -3.4 RPP
Prescott Valley-Prescott vs Harrisonburg
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Harrisonburg is 3.4% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott.
3.4% less expensive
Harrisonburg, VA is 3.4% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 94.9 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott buys about the same as $96,577 in Harrisonburg; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Prescott Valley-Prescott) vs 94.9 (Harrisonburg)
- $100k in Prescott Valley-Prescott ≈ $96,577 purchasing power in Harrisonburg
- Rents drives the gap (-16.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AZ:VA 98.3→94.9
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE AZ × VA
- 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
- Harrisonburg
- 96.8
Diff +0.5 RPP
Services
- Harrisonburg
- 88.5
Diff -2.9 RPP
Rents
- Harrisonburg
- 82.3
Diff -16.5 RPP
| Category | Prescott Valley-Prescott | Harrisonburg | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 94.9 | -3.4 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.8 | +0.5 |
| Services | 91.5 | 88.5 | -2.9 |
| Rents | 98.8 | 82.3 | -16.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.3
Harrisonburg 94.9
Goods
Prescott Valley-Prescott 96.2
Harrisonburg 96.8
Services
Prescott Valley-Prescott 91.5
Harrisonburg 88.5
Rents
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.8
Harrisonburg 82.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Harrisonburg is 16.5 points lower. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Harrisonburg, VA is 3.4% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.4-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 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 $96,577 in Harrisonburg.
Prescott Valley-Prescott
98.3
Cost Index
Harrisonburg
94.9
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott would need to be in Harrisonburg for the same purchasing power:
| In Prescott Valley-Prescott | In Harrisonburg | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,289 | $-1,711 |
| $75,000 | $72,433 | $-2,567 |
| $100,000 | $96,577 | $-3,423 |
| $150,000 | $144,866 | $-5,134 |
$ in Prescott Valley-Prescott = in Harrisonburg
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 94.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Prescott Valley-Prescott and Harrisonburg share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 10.9 to 3.4 RPP points. Prescott Valley-Prescott remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 8.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (8.2 to 0.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Prescott Valley-Prescott RPP | Harrisonburg RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 103.0 | 92.1 | 10.9 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2012 | 96.5 | 92.4 | 4.1 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2016 | 98.6 | 91.2 | 7.4 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2020 | 93.2 | 90.4 | 2.8 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2024 | 98.3 | 94.9 | 3.4 points Prescott Valley-Prescott 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 Harrisonburg more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott?
Harrisonburg is 3.4% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott. The overall cost index is 94.9 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Harrisonburg equals $100K in Prescott Valley-Prescott?
A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott has the same purchasing power as $96,577 in Harrisonburg. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Prescott Valley-Prescott and Harrisonburg?
Rents in Prescott Valley-Prescott are indexed at 98.8 while Harrisonburg is at 82.3 (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.