Overall
- Santa Fe
- 98.8
- Colorado Springs
- 100.7
Diff +1.9 RPP
Santa Fe vs Colorado Springs
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Colorado Springs is 2% more expensive than Santa Fe.
2% more expensive
Colorado Springs, CO is 2% more expensive than Santa Fe, NM on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.7 vs 98.8). A $100,000 salary in Santa Fe buys about the same as $101,964 in Colorado Springs; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.8 (Santa Fe) vs 100.7 (Colorado Springs)
- $100k in Santa Fe ≈ $101,964 purchasing power in Colorado Springs
- Rents drives the gap (+8.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NM:CO 98.8→100.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NM × CO
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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.
Santa Fe
98.8
Cost Index
Colorado Springs
100.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Santa Fe, NM and Colorado Springs, CO are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.9 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Colorado Springs is 8.2 points higher. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Colorado Springs is above 100 while Santa Fe is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 Santa Fe corresponds to $101,964 in Colorado Springs.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Santa Fe
- 96.1
- Colorado Springs
- 96.1
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
- Santa Fe
- 76.7
- Colorado Springs
- 83.2
Diff +6.5 RPP
Rents
- Santa Fe
- 108.0
- Colorado Springs
- 116.2
Diff +8.2 RPP
| Category | Santa Fe | Colorado Springs | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.8 | 100.7 | +1.9 |
| Goods | 96.1 | 96.1 | -0.1 |
| Services | 76.7 | 83.2 | +6.5 |
| Rents | 108.0 | 116.2 | +8.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Santa Fe 98.8
Colorado Springs 100.7
Goods
Santa Fe 96.1
Colorado Springs 96.1
Services
Santa Fe 76.7
Colorado Springs 83.2
Rents
Santa Fe 108.0
Colorado Springs 116.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Santa Fe and Colorado Springs share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 0.0 to 1.9 RPP points. Colorado Springs remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 11.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (5.3 to 6.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Santa Fe RPP | Colorado Springs RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.0 | 98.0 | 0.0 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2012 | 102.1 | 102.2 | 0.1 points Colorado Springs higher |
| 2016 | 98.4 | 99.0 | 0.5 points Colorado Springs higher |
| 2020 | 96.6 | 98.6 | 2.0 points Colorado Springs higher |
| 2024 | 98.8 | 100.7 | 1.9 points Colorado Springs 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Santa Fe would need to be in Colorado Springs for the same purchasing power:
| In Santa Fe | In Colorado Springs | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,982 | +$982 |
| $75,000 | $76,473 | +$1,473 |
| $100,000 | $101,964 | +$1,964 |
| $150,000 | $152,946 | +$2,946 |
$ in Santa Fe = in Colorado Springs
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.8 → 100.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Colorado Springs more expensive than Santa Fe?
Colorado Springs is 2% more expensive than Santa Fe. The overall cost index is 100.7 vs 98.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Colorado Springs equals $100K in Santa Fe?
A $100,000 salary in Santa Fe has the same purchasing power as $101,964 in Colorado Springs. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Santa Fe and Colorado Springs?
Rents in Santa Fe are indexed at 108.0 while Colorado Springs is at 116.2 (national average = 100). Colorado Springs 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.