Overall
- Salem
- 103.6
- Buffalo-Cheektowaga
- 95.8
Diff -7.8 RPP
Salem vs Buffalo-Cheektowaga
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Buffalo-Cheektowaga is 7.5% less expensive than Salem.
7.5% less expensive
Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY is 7.5% less expensive than Salem, OR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 95.8 vs 103.6). A $100,000 salary in Salem buys about the same as $92,470 in Buffalo-Cheektowaga; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.6 (Salem) vs 95.8 (Buffalo-Cheektowaga)
- $100k in Salem ≈ $92,470 purchasing power in Buffalo-Cheektowaga
- Rents drives the gap (-29.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair OR:NY 103.6→95.8
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE OR × NY
- 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
- Salem
- 105.3
- Buffalo-Cheektowaga
- 99.7
Diff -5.6 RPP
Services
- Salem
- 104.7
- Buffalo-Cheektowaga
- 129.5
Diff +24.8 RPP
Rents
- Salem
- 110.3
- Buffalo-Cheektowaga
- 81.0
Diff -29.3 RPP
| Category | Salem | Buffalo-Cheektowaga | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.6 | 95.8 | -7.8 |
| Goods | 105.3 | 99.7 | -5.6 |
| Services | 104.7 | 129.5 | +24.8 |
| Rents | 110.3 | 81.0 | -29.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Salem 103.6
Buffalo-Cheektowaga 95.8
Goods
Salem 105.3
Buffalo-Cheektowaga 99.7
Services
Salem 104.7
Buffalo-Cheektowaga 129.5
Rents
Salem 110.3
Buffalo-Cheektowaga 81.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Buffalo-Cheektowaga is 29.3 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY is 7.5% less expensive than Salem, OR, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 7.8-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Salem is above 100 while Buffalo-Cheektowaga 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 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 Salem corresponds to $92,470 in Buffalo-Cheektowaga.
Salem
103.6
Cost Index
Buffalo-Cheektowaga
95.8
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Salem would need to be in Buffalo-Cheektowaga for the same purchasing power:
| In Salem | In Buffalo-Cheektowaga | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,235 | $-3,765 |
| $75,000 | $69,352 | $-5,648 |
| $100,000 | $92,470 | $-7,530 |
| $150,000 | $138,705 | $-11,295 |
$ in Salem = in Buffalo-Cheektowaga
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.6 → 95.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Salem and Buffalo-Cheektowaga share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 2.9 to 7.8 RPP points. Salem remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 20.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (9.1 to 29.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Salem RPP | Buffalo-Cheektowaga RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.1 | 97.0 | 2.9 points Buffalo-Cheektowaga higher |
| 2012 | 101.1 | 96.2 | 4.9 points Salem higher |
| 2016 | 97.1 | 97.5 | 0.4 points Buffalo-Cheektowaga higher |
| 2020 | 100.9 | 94.2 | 6.8 points Salem higher |
| 2024 | 103.6 | 95.8 | 7.8 points Salem 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 Buffalo-Cheektowaga more expensive than Salem?
Buffalo-Cheektowaga is 7.5% less expensive than Salem. The overall cost index is 95.8 vs 103.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Buffalo-Cheektowaga equals $100K in Salem?
A $100,000 salary in Salem has the same purchasing power as $92,470 in Buffalo-Cheektowaga. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Salem and Buffalo-Cheektowaga?
Rents in Salem are indexed at 110.3 while Buffalo-Cheektowaga is at 81.0 (national average = 100). Salem 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.