Overall
Diff -2.5 RPP
Salem vs Kenosha
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Kenosha is 2.4% less expensive than Salem.
2.4% less expensive
Kenosha, WI is 2.4% less expensive than Salem, OR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 101.1 vs 103.6). A $100,000 salary in Salem buys about the same as $97,558 in Kenosha; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 103.6 (Salem) vs 101.1 (Kenosha)
- $100k in Salem ≈ $97,558 purchasing power in Kenosha
- Services drives the gap (-18.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair OR:WI 103.6→101.1
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE OR × WI
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +0.9 RPP
Services
Diff -18.8 RPP
Rents
Diff -14.5 RPP
| Category | Salem | Kenosha | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.6 | 101.1 | -2.5 |
| Goods | 105.3 | 106.2 | +0.9 |
| Services | 104.7 | 85.9 | -18.8 |
| Rents | 110.3 | 95.8 | -14.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Salem 103.6
Kenosha 101.1
Goods
Salem 105.3
Kenosha 106.2
Services
Salem 104.7
Kenosha 85.9
Rents
Salem 110.3
Kenosha 95.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Kenosha is 18.8 points lower. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Kenosha, WI is 2.4% less expensive than Salem, OR, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.5-point overall gap.
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
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 Salem to $97,558 in Kenosha, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Salem
103.6
Cost Index
Kenosha
101.1
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Salem would need to be in Kenosha for the same purchasing power:
| In Salem | In Kenosha | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,779 | $-1,221 |
| $75,000 | $73,169 | $-1,831 |
| $100,000 | $97,558 | $-2,442 |
| $150,000 | $146,337 | $-3,663 |
$ in Salem = in Kenosha
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.6 → 101.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Salem and Kenosha share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 9.6 to 2.5 RPP points. Salem remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 41.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (26.6 to 14.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Salem RPP | Kenosha RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.1 | 103.7 | 9.6 points Kenosha higher |
| 2012 | 101.1 | 99.3 | 1.8 points Salem higher |
| 2016 | 97.1 | 100.2 | 3.1 points Kenosha higher |
| 2020 | 100.9 | 99.4 | 1.6 points Salem higher |
| 2024 | 103.6 | 101.1 | 2.5 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 Kenosha more expensive than Salem?
Kenosha is 2.4% less expensive than Salem. The overall cost index is 101.1 vs 103.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Kenosha equals $100K in Salem?
A $100,000 salary in Salem has the same purchasing power as $97,558 in Kenosha. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Salem and Kenosha?
Rents in Salem are indexed at 110.3 while Kenosha is at 95.8 (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.