Overall
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 89.2
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 103.7
Diff +14.4 RPP
Sierra Vista-Douglas vs Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 16.2% more expensive than Sierra Vista-Douglas.
16.2% more expensive
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA is 16.2% more expensive than Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.7 vs 89.2). A $100,000 salary in Sierra Vista-Douglas buys about the same as $116,166 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 89.2 (Sierra Vista-Douglas) vs 103.7 (Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater)
- $100k in Sierra Vista-Douglas ≈ $116,166 purchasing power in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- Rents drives the gap (+54.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AZ:WA 89.2→103.7
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE AZ × WA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 96.2
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 105.0
Diff +8.8 RPP
Services
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 91.9
Diff -0.2 RPP
Rents
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 61.9
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 116.7
Diff +54.8 RPP
| Category | Sierra Vista-Douglas | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 89.2 | 103.7 | +14.4 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 105.0 | +8.8 |
| Services | 91.9 | 91.7 | -0.2 |
| Rents | 61.9 | 116.7 | +54.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Sierra Vista-Douglas 89.2
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 103.7
Goods
Sierra Vista-Douglas 96.2
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 105.0
Services
Sierra Vista-Douglas 91.9
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 91.7
Rents
Sierra Vista-Douglas 61.9
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 116.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 54.8 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 14.4 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is above 100 while Sierra Vista-Douglas is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 $116,166 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater.
Sierra Vista-Douglas
89.2
Cost Index
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
103.7
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Sierra Vista-Douglas would need to be in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater for the same purchasing power:
| In Sierra Vista-Douglas | In Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $58,083 | +$8,083 |
| $75,000 | $87,124 | +$12,124 |
| $100,000 | $116,166 | +$16,166 |
| $150,000 | $174,249 | +$24,249 |
$ in Sierra Vista-Douglas = in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (89.2 → 103.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater more expensive than Sierra Vista-Douglas?
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 16.2% more expensive than Sierra Vista-Douglas. The overall cost index is 103.7 vs 89.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater equals $100K in Sierra Vista-Douglas?
A $100,000 salary in Sierra Vista-Douglas has the same purchasing power as $116,166 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Sierra Vista-Douglas and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater?
Rents in Sierra Vista-Douglas are indexed at 61.9 while Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is at 116.7 (national average = 100). Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 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.