Overall
- Grants Pass
- 97.8
Diff -14.1 RPP
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad vs Grants Pass
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Grants Pass is 12.6% less expensive than San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad.
12.6% less expensive
Grants Pass, OR is 12.6% less expensive than San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.8 vs 111.9). A $100,000 salary in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad buys about the same as $87,374 in Grants Pass; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 111.9 (San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad) vs 97.8 (Grants Pass)
- $100k in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad ≈ $87,374 purchasing power in Grants Pass
- Rents drives the gap (-99.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:OR 111.9→97.8
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE CA × OR
- 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 San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad would need to be in Grants Pass for the same purchasing power:
| In San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad | In Grants Pass | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $43,687 | $-6,313 |
| $75,000 | $65,530 | $-9,470 |
| $100,000 | $87,374 | $-12,626 |
| $150,000 | $131,061 | $-18,939 |
$ in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad = in Grants Pass
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (111.9 → 97.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA and Grants Pass, OR sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 14.1 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad is above 100 while Grants Pass is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Grants Pass 99.4 points lower than San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad. 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 San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad corresponds to $87,374 in Grants Pass.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Grants Pass
- 105.3
Diff -2.7 RPP
Services
- Grants Pass
- 103.6
Diff -70.7 RPP
Rents
- Grants Pass
- 79.9
Diff -99.4 RPP
| Category | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad | Grants Pass | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 111.9 | 97.8 | -14.1 |
| Goods | 108.0 | 105.3 | -2.7 |
| Services | 174.2 | 103.6 | -70.7 |
| Rents | 179.3 | 79.9 | -99.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad 111.9
Grants Pass 97.8
Goods
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad 108.0
Grants Pass 105.3
Services
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad 174.2
Grants Pass 103.6
Rents
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad 179.3
Grants Pass 79.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad
111.9
Cost Index
Grants Pass
97.8
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad and Grants Pass share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 17.6 to 14.1 RPP points. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 18.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (51.8 to 70.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad RPP | Grants Pass RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 113.7 | 96.2 | 17.6 points San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad higher |
| 2012 | 112.9 | 96.1 | 16.8 points San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad higher |
| 2016 | 113.6 | 96.2 | 17.4 points San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad higher |
| 2020 | 115.1 | 95.0 | 20.1 points San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad higher |
| 2024 | 111.9 | 97.8 | 14.1 points San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad 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 Grants Pass more expensive than San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad?
Grants Pass is 12.6% less expensive than San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad. The overall cost index is 97.8 vs 111.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Grants Pass equals $100K in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad?
A $100,000 salary in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad has the same purchasing power as $87,374 in Grants Pass. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad and Grants Pass?
Rents in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad are indexed at 179.3 while Grants Pass is at 79.9 (national average = 100). San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad 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.