Overall
- Salem
- 103.6
- Sherman-Denison
- 93.8
Diff -9.9 RPP
Salem vs Sherman-Denison
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Sherman-Denison is 9.5% less expensive than Salem.
9.5% less expensive
Sherman-Denison, TX is 9.5% less expensive than Salem, OR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.8 vs 103.6). A $100,000 salary in Salem buys about the same as $90,470 in Sherman-Denison; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 103.6 (Salem) vs 93.8 (Sherman-Denison)
- $100k in Salem ≈ $90,470 purchasing power in Sherman-Denison
- Services drives the gap (-21.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair OR:TX 103.6→93.8
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE OR × TX
- SERVICES-LED Services-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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Salem, OR and Sherman-Denison, TX sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 9.9 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 Sherman-Denison is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Services leads the difference, with Sherman-Denison 21.4 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 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 $90,470 in Sherman-Denison, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Salem and Sherman-Denison share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 2.7 to 9.9 RPP points. Salem remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 30.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (9.4 to 21.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Salem RPP | Sherman-Denison RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.1 | 91.4 | 2.7 points Salem higher |
| 2012 | 101.1 | 94.2 | 6.9 points Salem higher |
| 2016 | 97.1 | 95.4 | 1.7 points Salem higher |
| 2020 | 100.9 | 92.4 | 8.6 points Salem higher |
| 2024 | 103.6 | 93.8 | 9.9 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Salem
- 105.3
- Sherman-Denison
- 93.8
Diff -11.5 RPP
Services
- Salem
- 104.7
- Sherman-Denison
- 83.3
Diff -21.4 RPP
Rents
- Salem
- 110.3
- Sherman-Denison
- 89.5
Diff -20.9 RPP
| Category | Salem | Sherman-Denison | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.6 | 93.8 | -9.9 |
| Goods | 105.3 | 93.8 | -11.5 |
| Services | 104.7 | 83.3 | -21.4 |
| Rents | 110.3 | 89.5 | -20.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Salem 103.6
Sherman-Denison 93.8
Goods
Salem 105.3
Sherman-Denison 93.8
Services
Salem 104.7
Sherman-Denison 83.3
Rents
Salem 110.3
Sherman-Denison 89.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Salem would need to be in Sherman-Denison for the same purchasing power:
| In Salem | In Sherman-Denison | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $45,235 | $-4,765 |
| $75,000 | $67,852 | $-7,148 |
| $100,000 | $90,470 | $-9,530 |
| $150,000 | $135,705 | $-14,295 |
$ in Salem = in Sherman-Denison
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.6 → 93.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Salem
103.6
Cost Index
Sherman-Denison
93.8
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Sherman-Denison more expensive than Salem?
Sherman-Denison is 9.5% less expensive than Salem. The overall cost index is 93.8 vs 103.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Sherman-Denison equals $100K in Salem?
A $100,000 salary in Salem has the same purchasing power as $90,470 in Sherman-Denison. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Salem and Sherman-Denison?
Rents in Salem are indexed at 110.3 while Sherman-Denison is at 89.5 (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.