Overall
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 89.2
- Fairbanks-College
- 103.2
Diff +14.0 RPP
Sierra Vista-Douglas vs Fairbanks-College
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Fairbanks-College is 15.6% more expensive than Sierra Vista-Douglas.
15.6% more expensive
Fairbanks-College, AK is 15.6% more expensive than Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.2 vs 89.2). A $100,000 salary in Sierra Vista-Douglas buys about the same as $115,648 in Fairbanks-College; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 89.2 (Sierra Vista-Douglas) vs 103.2 (Fairbanks-College)
- $100k in Sierra Vista-Douglas ≈ $115,648 purchasing power in Fairbanks-College
- Rents drives the gap (+30.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AZ:AK 89.2→103.2
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE AZ × AK
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-STEEP Steep PP convert
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 Sierra Vista-Douglas would need to be in Fairbanks-College for the same purchasing power:
| In Sierra Vista-Douglas | In Fairbanks-College | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $57,824 | +$7,824 |
| $75,000 | $86,736 | +$11,736 |
| $100,000 | $115,648 | +$15,648 |
| $150,000 | $173,472 | +$23,472 |
$ in Sierra Vista-Douglas = in Fairbanks-College
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (89.2 → 103.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ and Fairbanks-College, AK sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 14.0 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Fairbanks-College is above 100 while Sierra Vista-Douglas is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Fairbanks-College 30.6 points higher than Sierra Vista-Douglas. 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 Sierra Vista-Douglas corresponds to $115,648 in Fairbanks-College.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 96.2
- Fairbanks-College
- 107.3
Diff +11.1 RPP
Services
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 91.9
- Fairbanks-College
- 119.8
Diff +27.8 RPP
Rents
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 61.9
- Fairbanks-College
- 92.6
Diff +30.6 RPP
| Category | Sierra Vista-Douglas | Fairbanks-College | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 89.2 | 103.2 | +14.0 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 107.3 | +11.1 |
| Services | 91.9 | 119.8 | +27.8 |
| Rents | 61.9 | 92.6 | +30.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Sierra Vista-Douglas 89.2
Fairbanks-College 103.2
Goods
Sierra Vista-Douglas 96.2
Fairbanks-College 107.3
Services
Sierra Vista-Douglas 91.9
Fairbanks-College 119.8
Rents
Sierra Vista-Douglas 61.9
Fairbanks-College 92.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Sierra Vista-Douglas
89.2
Cost Index
Fairbanks-College
103.2
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Sierra Vista-Douglas and Fairbanks-College share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 10.9 to 14.0 RPP points. Fairbanks-College remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 23.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (53.8 to 30.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Sierra Vista-Douglas RPP | Fairbanks-College RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 93.8 | 104.7 | 10.9 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2012 | 93.5 | 97.9 | 4.4 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2016 | 93.0 | 100.4 | 7.4 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2020 | 88.5 | 99.4 | 10.9 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2024 | 89.2 | 103.2 | 14.0 points Fairbanks-College 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 Fairbanks-College more expensive than Sierra Vista-Douglas?
Fairbanks-College is 15.6% more expensive than Sierra Vista-Douglas. The overall cost index is 103.2 vs 89.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Fairbanks-College equals $100K in Sierra Vista-Douglas?
A $100,000 salary in Sierra Vista-Douglas has the same purchasing power as $115,648 in Fairbanks-College. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Sierra Vista-Douglas and Fairbanks-College?
Rents in Sierra Vista-Douglas are indexed at 61.9 while Fairbanks-College is at 92.6 (national average = 100). Fairbanks-College 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.