Overall
- Medford
- 101.4
Diff +3.2 RPP
Prescott Valley-Prescott vs Medford
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Medford is 3.2% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott.
3.2% more expensive
Medford, OR is 3.2% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 101.4 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott buys about the same as $103,234 in Medford; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Prescott Valley-Prescott) vs 101.4 (Medford)
- $100k in Prescott Valley-Prescott ≈ $103,234 purchasing power in Medford
- Services drives the gap (+10.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AZ:OR 98.3→101.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE AZ × OR
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Medford
- 105.3
Diff +9.0 RPP
Services
- Medford
- 102.3
Diff +10.8 RPP
Rents
- Medford
- 97.7
Diff -1.1 RPP
| Category | Prescott Valley-Prescott | Medford | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 101.4 | +3.2 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 105.3 | +9.0 |
| Services | 91.5 | 102.3 | +10.8 |
| Rents | 98.8 | 97.7 | -1.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.3
Medford 101.4
Goods
Prescott Valley-Prescott 96.2
Medford 105.3
Services
Prescott Valley-Prescott 91.5
Medford 102.3
Rents
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.8
Medford 97.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Medford is 10.8 points higher. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Medford, OR is 3.2% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.2-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Medford is above 100 while Prescott Valley-Prescott is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 $103,234 in Medford, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Prescott Valley-Prescott
98.3
Cost Index
Medford
101.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott would need to be in Medford for the same purchasing power:
| In Prescott Valley-Prescott | In Medford | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,617 | +$1,617 |
| $75,000 | $77,426 | +$2,426 |
| $100,000 | $103,234 | +$3,234 |
| $150,000 | $154,852 | +$4,852 |
$ in Prescott Valley-Prescott = in Medford
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 101.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Medford more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott?
Medford is 3.2% more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott. The overall cost index is 101.4 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Medford equals $100K in Prescott Valley-Prescott?
A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott has the same purchasing power as $103,234 in Medford. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Prescott Valley-Prescott and Medford?
Rents in Prescott Valley-Prescott are indexed at 98.8 while Medford is at 97.7 (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.