Overall
- Stockton-Lodi
- 105.1
- Lancaster
- 98.3
Diff -6.8 RPP
Stockton-Lodi vs Lancaster
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lancaster is 6.5% less expensive than Stockton-Lodi.
6.5% less expensive
Lancaster, PA is 6.5% less expensive than Stockton-Lodi, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 105.1). A $100,000 salary in Stockton-Lodi buys about the same as $93,499 in Lancaster; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 105.1 (Stockton-Lodi) vs 98.3 (Lancaster)
- $100k in Stockton-Lodi ≈ $93,499 purchasing power in Lancaster
- Services drives the gap (-51.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:PA 105.1→98.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE CA × PA
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Lancaster, PA is 6.5% less expensive than Stockton-Lodi, CA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.8-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Stockton-Lodi is above 100 while Lancaster is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Services leads the difference, with Lancaster 51.0 points lower than Stockton-Lodi. 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Stockton-Lodi to $93,499 in Lancaster, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Stockton-Lodi and Lancaster share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 0.0 to 6.8 RPP points. Stockton-Lodi remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 60.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (9.7 to 51.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Stockton-Lodi RPP | Lancaster RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 100.2 | 100.2 | 0.0 points Stockton-Lodi higher |
| 2012 | 103.8 | 97.8 | 6.0 points Stockton-Lodi higher |
| 2016 | 99.9 | 99.4 | 0.5 points Stockton-Lodi higher |
| 2020 | 105.3 | 97.9 | 7.4 points Stockton-Lodi higher |
| 2024 | 105.1 | 98.3 | 6.8 points Stockton-Lodi 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Stockton-Lodi
- 105.2
- Lancaster
- 100.7
Diff -4.5 RPP
Services
- Stockton-Lodi
- 158.2
- Lancaster
- 107.3
Diff -51.0 RPP
Rents
- Stockton-Lodi
- 115.6
- Lancaster
- 93.8
Diff -21.8 RPP
| Category | Stockton-Lodi | Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 105.1 | 98.3 | -6.8 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 100.7 | -4.5 |
| Services | 158.2 | 107.3 | -51.0 |
| Rents | 115.6 | 93.8 | -21.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Stockton-Lodi 105.1
Lancaster 98.3
Goods
Stockton-Lodi 105.2
Lancaster 100.7
Services
Stockton-Lodi 158.2
Lancaster 107.3
Rents
Stockton-Lodi 115.6
Lancaster 93.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Stockton-Lodi would need to be in Lancaster for the same purchasing power:
| In Stockton-Lodi | In Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,749 | $-3,251 |
| $75,000 | $70,124 | $-4,876 |
| $100,000 | $93,499 | $-6,501 |
| $150,000 | $140,248 | $-9,752 |
$ in Stockton-Lodi = in Lancaster
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (105.1 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Stockton-Lodi
105.1
Cost Index
Lancaster
98.3
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lancaster more expensive than Stockton-Lodi?
Lancaster is 6.5% less expensive than Stockton-Lodi. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 105.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lancaster equals $100K in Stockton-Lodi?
A $100,000 salary in Stockton-Lodi has the same purchasing power as $93,499 in Lancaster. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Stockton-Lodi and Lancaster?
Rents in Stockton-Lodi are indexed at 115.6 while Lancaster is at 93.8 (national average = 100). Stockton-Lodi 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.