Overall
- Providence-Warwick
- 101.8
- Lancaster
- 98.3
Diff -3.5 RPP
Providence-Warwick vs Lancaster
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lancaster is 3.5% less expensive than Providence-Warwick.
3.5% less expensive
Lancaster, PA is 3.5% less expensive than Providence-Warwick, RI-MA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 101.8). A $100,000 salary in Providence-Warwick buys about the same as $96,545 in Lancaster; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 101.8 (Providence-Warwick) vs 98.3 (Lancaster)
- $100k in Providence-Warwick ≈ $96,545 purchasing power in Lancaster
- Services drives the gap (-41.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair RI:PA 101.8→98.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE RI × PA
- 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
- Providence-Warwick
- 97.1
- Lancaster
- 100.7
Diff +3.6 RPP
Services
- Providence-Warwick
- 148.8
- Lancaster
- 107.3
Diff -41.5 RPP
Rents
- Providence-Warwick
- 103.9
- Lancaster
- 93.8
Diff -10.0 RPP
| Category | Providence-Warwick | Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 101.8 | 98.3 | -3.5 |
| Goods | 97.1 | 100.7 | +3.6 |
| Services | 148.8 | 107.3 | -41.5 |
| Rents | 103.9 | 93.8 | -10.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Providence-Warwick 101.8
Lancaster 98.3
Goods
Providence-Warwick 97.1
Lancaster 100.7
Services
Providence-Warwick 148.8
Lancaster 107.3
Rents
Providence-Warwick 103.9
Lancaster 93.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Lancaster is 41.5 points lower. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Lancaster, PA is 3.5% less expensive than Providence-Warwick, RI-MA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.5-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Providence-Warwick is above 100 while Lancaster 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 Providence-Warwick to $96,545 in Lancaster, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Providence-Warwick
101.8
Cost Index
Lancaster
98.3
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Providence-Warwick would need to be in Lancaster for the same purchasing power:
| In Providence-Warwick | In Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,273 | $-1,727 |
| $75,000 | $72,409 | $-2,591 |
| $100,000 | $96,545 | $-3,455 |
| $150,000 | $144,818 | $-5,182 |
$ in Providence-Warwick = in Lancaster
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (101.8 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lancaster more expensive than Providence-Warwick?
Lancaster is 3.5% less expensive than Providence-Warwick. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 101.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lancaster equals $100K in Providence-Warwick?
A $100,000 salary in Providence-Warwick has the same purchasing power as $96,545 in Lancaster. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Providence-Warwick and Lancaster?
Rents in Providence-Warwick are indexed at 103.9 while Lancaster is at 93.8 (national average = 100). Providence-Warwick 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.