Overall
- Santa Fe
- 98.8
- Eau Claire
- 92.8
Diff -6.0 RPP
Santa Fe vs Eau Claire
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Eau Claire is 6% less expensive than Santa Fe.
6% less expensive
Eau Claire, WI is 6% less expensive than Santa Fe, NM on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.8 vs 98.8). A $100,000 salary in Santa Fe buys about the same as $93,954 in Eau Claire; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.8 (Santa Fe) vs 92.8 (Eau Claire)
- $100k in Santa Fe ≈ $93,954 purchasing power in Eau Claire
- Rents drives the gap (-35.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NM:WI 98.8→92.8
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NM × WI
- 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
- Santa Fe
- 96.1
- Eau Claire
- 93.8
Diff -2.4 RPP
Services
- Santa Fe
- 76.7
- Eau Claire
- 90.9
Diff +14.2 RPP
Rents
- Santa Fe
- 108.0
- Eau Claire
- 72.8
Diff -35.1 RPP
| Category | Santa Fe | Eau Claire | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.8 | 92.8 | -6.0 |
| Goods | 96.1 | 93.8 | -2.4 |
| Services | 76.7 | 90.9 | +14.2 |
| Rents | 108.0 | 72.8 | -35.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Santa Fe 98.8
Eau Claire 92.8
Goods
Santa Fe 96.1
Eau Claire 93.8
Services
Santa Fe 76.7
Eau Claire 90.9
Rents
Santa Fe 108.0
Eau Claire 72.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Eau Claire is 35.1 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Eau Claire, WI is 6% less expensive than Santa Fe, NM, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.0-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 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 $93,954 in Eau Claire.
Santa Fe
98.8
Cost Index
Eau Claire
92.8
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Santa Fe would need to be in Eau Claire for the same purchasing power:
| In Santa Fe | In Eau Claire | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,977 | $-3,023 |
| $75,000 | $70,466 | $-4,534 |
| $100,000 | $93,954 | $-6,046 |
| $150,000 | $140,932 | $-9,068 |
$ in Santa Fe = in Eau Claire
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.8 → 92.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Santa Fe and Eau Claire share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 1.4 to 6.0 RPP points. Santa Fe remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 14.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (21.1 to 35.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Santa Fe RPP | Eau Claire RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.0 | 96.6 | 1.4 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2012 | 102.1 | 94.8 | 7.3 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2016 | 98.4 | 91.6 | 6.9 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2020 | 96.6 | 92.2 | 4.4 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2024 | 98.8 | 92.8 | 6.0 points Santa Fe 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 Eau Claire more expensive than Santa Fe?
Eau Claire is 6% less expensive than Santa Fe. The overall cost index is 92.8 vs 98.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Eau Claire equals $100K in Santa Fe?
A $100,000 salary in Santa Fe has the same purchasing power as $93,954 in Eau Claire. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Santa Fe and Eau Claire?
Rents in Santa Fe are indexed at 108.0 while Eau Claire is at 72.8 (national average = 100). Santa Fe 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.