Overall
- Walla Walla
- 98.5
Diff +3.8 RPP
San Antonio-New Braunfels vs Walla Walla
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Walla Walla is 4% more expensive than San Antonio-New Braunfels.
4% more expensive
Walla Walla, WA is 4% more expensive than San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.5 vs 94.7). A $100,000 salary in San Antonio-New Braunfels buys about the same as $104,015 in Walla Walla; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 94.7 (San Antonio-New Braunfels) vs 98.5 (Walla Walla)
- $100k in San Antonio-New Braunfels ≈ $104,015 purchasing power in Walla Walla
- Services drives the gap (+12.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:WA 94.7→98.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE TX × WA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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
- Walla Walla
- 105.0
Diff +11.3 RPP
Services
- Walla Walla
- 94.3
Diff +12.1 RPP
Rents
- Walla Walla
- 86.6
Diff -8.0 RPP
| Category | San Antonio-New Braunfels | Walla Walla | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 94.7 | 98.5 | +3.8 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 105.0 | +11.3 |
| Services | 82.2 | 94.3 | +12.1 |
| Rents | 94.6 | 86.6 | -8.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
San Antonio-New Braunfels 94.7
Walla Walla 98.5
Goods
San Antonio-New Braunfels 93.8
Walla Walla 105.0
Services
San Antonio-New Braunfels 82.2
Walla Walla 94.3
Rents
San Antonio-New Braunfels 94.6
Walla Walla 86.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Walla Walla is 12.1 points higher. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Walla Walla, WA is 4% more expensive than San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.8-point overall gap.
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.
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 San Antonio-New Braunfels to $104,015 in Walla Walla, but it is not a personal spending weight.
San Antonio-New Braunfels
94.7
Cost Index
Walla Walla
98.5
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in San Antonio-New Braunfels would need to be in Walla Walla for the same purchasing power:
| In San Antonio-New Braunfels | In Walla Walla | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,008 | +$2,008 |
| $75,000 | $78,011 | +$3,011 |
| $100,000 | $104,015 | +$4,015 |
| $150,000 | $156,023 | +$6,023 |
$ in San Antonio-New Braunfels = in Walla Walla
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (94.7 → 98.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
San Antonio-New Braunfels and Walla Walla share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 0.5 to 3.8 RPP points. Walla Walla remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 45.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (32.9 to 12.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | San Antonio-New Braunfels RPP | Walla Walla RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 96.1 | 95.6 | 0.5 points San Antonio-New Braunfels higher |
| 2012 | 97.4 | 95.1 | 2.3 points San Antonio-New Braunfels higher |
| 2016 | 98.3 | 96.3 | 2.0 points San Antonio-New Braunfels higher |
| 2020 | 96.8 | 95.2 | 1.6 points San Antonio-New Braunfels higher |
| 2024 | 94.7 | 98.5 | 3.8 points Walla Walla 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 Walla Walla more expensive than San Antonio-New Braunfels?
Walla Walla is 4% more expensive than San Antonio-New Braunfels. The overall cost index is 98.5 vs 94.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Walla Walla equals $100K in San Antonio-New Braunfels?
A $100,000 salary in San Antonio-New Braunfels has the same purchasing power as $104,015 in Walla Walla. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between San Antonio-New Braunfels and Walla Walla?
Rents in San Antonio-New Braunfels are indexed at 94.6 while Walla Walla is at 86.6 (national average = 100). San Antonio-New Braunfels 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.