Overall
Diff -0.6 RPP
Rochester vs Lawrence
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lawrence is 0.6% less expensive than Rochester.
0.6% less expensive
Lawrence, KS is 0.6% less expensive than Rochester, MN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 90.2 vs 90.8). A $100,000 salary in Rochester buys about the same as $99,364 in Lawrence; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 90.8 (Rochester) vs 90.2 (Lawrence)
- $100k in Rochester ≈ $99,364 purchasing power in Lawrence
- Rents drives the gap (-7.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MN:KS 90.8→90.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MN × KS
- 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.
Rochester
90.8
Cost Index
Lawrence
90.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rochester, MN and Lawrence, KS are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.6 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Lawrence is 7.0 points lower. 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 Rochester corresponds to $99,364 in Lawrence.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -1.4 RPP
Services
Diff +1.9 RPP
Rents
Diff -7.0 RPP
| Category | Rochester | Lawrence | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 90.8 | 90.2 | -0.6 |
| Goods | 95.4 | 94.0 | -1.4 |
| Services | 87.4 | 89.3 | +1.9 |
| Rents | 78.6 | 71.6 | -7.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Rochester 90.8
Lawrence 90.2
Goods
Rochester 95.4
Lawrence 94.0
Services
Rochester 87.4
Lawrence 89.3
Rents
Rochester 78.6
Lawrence 71.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Rochester and Lawrence share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 3.0 to 0.6 RPP points. Rochester remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 8.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (1.5 to 7.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Rochester RPP | Lawrence RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.2 | 98.2 | 3.0 points Lawrence higher |
| 2012 | 94.5 | 96.0 | 1.5 points Lawrence higher |
| 2016 | 92.8 | 94.1 | 1.3 points Lawrence higher |
| 2020 | 96.7 | 94.0 | 2.7 points Rochester higher |
| 2024 | 90.8 | 90.2 | 0.6 points Rochester 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Rochester would need to be in Lawrence for the same purchasing power:
| In Rochester | In Lawrence | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,682 | $-318 |
| $75,000 | $74,523 | $-477 |
| $100,000 | $99,364 | $-636 |
| $150,000 | $149,045 | $-955 |
$ in Rochester = in Lawrence
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (90.8 → 90.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lawrence more expensive than Rochester?
Lawrence is 0.6% less expensive than Rochester. The overall cost index is 90.2 vs 90.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lawrence equals $100K in Rochester?
A $100,000 salary in Rochester has the same purchasing power as $99,364 in Lawrence. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Rochester and Lawrence?
Rents in Rochester are indexed at 78.6 while Lawrence is at 71.6 (national average = 100). Rochester 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.