Overall
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 89.2
Diff -9.0 RPP
Prescott Valley-Prescott vs Sierra Vista-Douglas
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Sierra Vista-Douglas is 9.2% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott.
9.2% less expensive
Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ is 9.2% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 89.2 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott buys about the same as $90,828 in Sierra Vista-Douglas; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Prescott Valley-Prescott) vs 89.2 (Sierra Vista-Douglas)
- $100k in Prescott Valley-Prescott ≈ $90,828 purchasing power in Sierra Vista-Douglas
- Rents drives the gap (-36.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AZ:AZ 98.3→89.2
TIER-GAP · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- SAME-STATE Same state · AZ
- 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
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 96.2
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 91.9
Diff +0.5 RPP
Rents
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 61.9
Diff -36.9 RPP
| Category | Prescott Valley-Prescott | Sierra Vista-Douglas | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 89.2 | -9.0 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.2 | 0.0 |
| Services | 91.5 | 91.9 | +0.5 |
| Rents | 98.8 | 61.9 | -36.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.3
Sierra Vista-Douglas 89.2
Goods
Prescott Valley-Prescott 96.2
Sierra Vista-Douglas 96.2
Services
Prescott Valley-Prescott 91.5
Sierra Vista-Douglas 91.9
Rents
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.8
Sierra Vista-Douglas 61.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Sierra Vista-Douglas is 36.9 points lower. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ and Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 9.0 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
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 $90,828 in Sierra Vista-Douglas.
Prescott Valley-Prescott
98.3
Cost Index
Sierra Vista-Douglas
89.2
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott would need to be in Sierra Vista-Douglas for the same purchasing power:
| In Prescott Valley-Prescott | In Sierra Vista-Douglas | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $45,414 | $-4,586 |
| $75,000 | $68,121 | $-6,879 |
| $100,000 | $90,828 | $-9,172 |
| $150,000 | $136,242 | $-13,758 |
$ in Prescott Valley-Prescott = in Sierra Vista-Douglas
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 89.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Prescott Valley-Prescott and Sierra Vista-Douglas share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 9.2 to 9.0 RPP points. Prescott Valley-Prescott remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 6.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (43.5 to 36.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Prescott Valley-Prescott RPP | Sierra Vista-Douglas RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 103.0 | 93.8 | 9.2 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2012 | 96.5 | 93.5 | 3.0 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2016 | 98.6 | 93.0 | 5.6 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2020 | 93.2 | 88.5 | 4.7 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2024 | 98.3 | 89.2 | 9.0 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 Sierra Vista-Douglas more expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott?
Sierra Vista-Douglas is 9.2% less expensive than Prescott Valley-Prescott. The overall cost index is 89.2 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Sierra Vista-Douglas equals $100K in Prescott Valley-Prescott?
A $100,000 salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott has the same purchasing power as $90,828 in Sierra Vista-Douglas. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Prescott Valley-Prescott and Sierra Vista-Douglas?
Rents in Prescott Valley-Prescott are indexed at 98.8 while Sierra Vista-Douglas is at 61.9 (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.