Overall
- Salem
- 103.6
- Eau Claire
- 92.8
Diff -10.9 RPP
Salem vs Eau Claire
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Eau Claire is 10.5% less expensive than Salem.
10.5% less expensive
Eau Claire, WI is 10.5% less expensive than Salem, OR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.8 vs 103.6). A $100,000 salary in Salem buys about the same as $89,529 in Eau Claire; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.6 (Salem) vs 92.8 (Eau Claire)
- $100k in Salem ≈ $89,529 purchasing power in Eau Claire
- Rents drives the gap (-37.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair OR:WI 103.6→92.8
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE OR × WI
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Salem would need to be in Eau Claire for the same purchasing power:
| In Salem | In Eau Claire | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $44,765 | $-5,235 |
| $75,000 | $67,147 | $-7,853 |
| $100,000 | $89,529 | $-10,471 |
| $150,000 | $134,294 | $-15,706 |
$ in Salem = in Eau Claire
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.6 → 92.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Salem, OR and Eau Claire, WI sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 10.9 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Salem is above 100 while Eau Claire is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Eau Claire 37.5 points lower than Salem. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
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 $89,529 in Eau Claire.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Salem
- 105.3
- Eau Claire
- 93.8
Diff -11.5 RPP
Services
- Salem
- 104.7
- Eau Claire
- 90.9
Diff -13.8 RPP
Rents
- Salem
- 110.3
- Eau Claire
- 72.8
Diff -37.5 RPP
| Category | Salem | Eau Claire | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.6 | 92.8 | -10.9 |
| Goods | 105.3 | 93.8 | -11.5 |
| Services | 104.7 | 90.9 | -13.8 |
| Rents | 110.3 | 72.8 | -37.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Salem 103.6
Eau Claire 92.8
Goods
Salem 105.3
Eau Claire 93.8
Services
Salem 104.7
Eau Claire 90.9
Rents
Salem 110.3
Eau Claire 72.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salem
103.6
Cost Index
Eau Claire
92.8
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Salem and Eau Claire share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 2.5 to 10.9 RPP points. Salem remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 37.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (0.4 to 37.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Salem RPP | Eau Claire RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.1 | 96.6 | 2.5 points Eau Claire higher |
| 2012 | 101.1 | 94.8 | 6.3 points Salem higher |
| 2016 | 97.1 | 91.6 | 5.5 points Salem higher |
| 2020 | 100.9 | 92.2 | 8.7 points Salem higher |
| 2024 | 103.6 | 92.8 | 10.9 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 Eau Claire more expensive than Salem?
Eau Claire is 10.5% less expensive than Salem. The overall cost index is 92.8 vs 103.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Eau Claire equals $100K in Salem?
A $100,000 salary in Salem has the same purchasing power as $89,529 in Eau Claire. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Salem and Eau Claire?
Rents in Salem are indexed at 110.3 while Eau Claire is at 72.8 (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.