Overall
- Lancaster
- 98.3
Diff +4.7 RPP
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre vs Lancaster
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lancaster is 5% more expensive than Scranton--Wilkes-Barre.
5% more expensive
Lancaster, PA is 5% more expensive than Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 93.6). A $100,000 salary in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre buys about the same as $105,025 in Lancaster; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 93.6 (Scranton--Wilkes-Barre) vs 98.3 (Lancaster)
- $100k in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre ≈ $105,025 purchasing power in Lancaster
- Rents drives the gap (+26.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair PA:PA 93.6→98.3
TIER-NEAR · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- SAME-STATE Same state · PA
- 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
- Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
- 100.7
- Lancaster
- 100.7
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
- Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
- 106.5
- Lancaster
- 107.3
Diff +0.7 RPP
Rents
- Lancaster
- 93.8
Diff +26.8 RPP
| Category | Scranton--Wilkes-Barre | Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.6 | 98.3 | +4.7 |
| Goods | 100.7 | 100.7 | 0.0 |
| Services | 106.5 | 107.3 | +0.7 |
| Rents | 67.0 | 93.8 | +26.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 93.6
Lancaster 98.3
Goods
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 100.7
Lancaster 100.7
Services
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 106.5
Lancaster 107.3
Rents
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 67.0
Lancaster 93.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Lancaster is 26.8 points higher. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Lancaster, PA is 5% more expensive than Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.7-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 Scranton--Wilkes-Barre corresponds to $105,025 in Lancaster.
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
93.6
Cost Index
Lancaster
98.3
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre would need to be in Lancaster for the same purchasing power:
| In Scranton--Wilkes-Barre | In Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,512 | +$2,512 |
| $75,000 | $78,769 | +$3,769 |
| $100,000 | $105,025 | +$5,025 |
| $150,000 | $157,537 | +$7,537 |
$ in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre = in Lancaster
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (93.6 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre and Lancaster share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 5.1 to 4.7 RPP points. Lancaster remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 4.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (3.8 to 0.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Scranton--Wilkes-Barre RPP | Lancaster RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.1 | 100.2 | 5.1 points Lancaster higher |
| 2012 | 94.0 | 97.8 | 3.8 points Lancaster higher |
| 2016 | 94.8 | 99.4 | 4.6 points Lancaster higher |
| 2020 | 93.1 | 97.9 | 4.8 points Lancaster higher |
| 2024 | 93.6 | 98.3 | 4.7 points Lancaster 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 Lancaster more expensive than Scranton--Wilkes-Barre?
Lancaster is 5% more expensive than Scranton--Wilkes-Barre. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 93.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lancaster equals $100K in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre?
A $100,000 salary in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre has the same purchasing power as $105,025 in Lancaster. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Scranton--Wilkes-Barre and Lancaster?
Rents in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre are indexed at 67.0 while Lancaster is at 93.8 (national average = 100). Lancaster 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.