Overall
- Urban Honolulu
- 111.0
Diff -2.1 RPP
Urban Honolulu vs Washington-Arlington-Alexandria
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria is 1.9% less expensive than Urban Honolulu.
1.9% less expensive
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV is 1.9% less expensive than Urban Honolulu, HI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 108.9 vs 111.0). A $100,000 salary in Urban Honolulu buys about the same as $98,128 in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 111.0 (Urban Honolulu) vs 108.9 (Washington-Arlington-Alexandria)
- $100k in Urban Honolulu ≈ $98,128 purchasing power in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria
- Services drives the gap (-80.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair HI:DC 111.0→108.9
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE HI × DC
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
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
- Urban Honolulu
- 111.6
Diff -6.7 RPP
Services
- Urban Honolulu
- 187.3
Diff -80.6 RPP
Rents
- Urban Honolulu
- 135.5
Diff +15.6 RPP
| Category | Urban Honolulu | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 111.0 | 108.9 | -2.1 |
| Goods | 111.6 | 104.8 | -6.7 |
| Services | 187.3 | 106.7 | -80.6 |
| Rents | 135.5 | 151.1 | +15.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Urban Honolulu 111.0
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria 108.9
Goods
Urban Honolulu 111.6
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria 104.8
Services
Urban Honolulu 187.3
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria 106.7
Rents
Urban Honolulu 135.5
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria 151.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria is 80.6 points lower. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV is 1.9% less expensive than Urban Honolulu, HI, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.1-point overall gap.
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
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 Urban Honolulu to $98,128 in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Urban Honolulu
111.0
Cost Index
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria
108.9
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Urban Honolulu would need to be in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria for the same purchasing power:
| In Urban Honolulu | In Washington-Arlington-Alexandria | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,064 | $-936 |
| $75,000 | $73,596 | $-1,404 |
| $100,000 | $98,128 | $-1,872 |
| $150,000 | $147,192 | $-2,808 |
$ in Urban Honolulu = in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (111.0 → 108.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Urban Honolulu and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.9 to 2.1 RPP points. Urban Honolulu remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 69.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (149.6 to 80.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Urban Honolulu RPP | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 111.9 | 114.8 | 2.9 points Washington-Arlington-Alexandria higher |
| 2012 | 112.4 | 111.7 | 0.7 points Urban Honolulu higher |
| 2016 | 113.4 | 112.1 | 1.3 points Urban Honolulu higher |
| 2020 | 115.7 | 111.4 | 4.2 points Urban Honolulu higher |
| 2024 | 111.0 | 108.9 | 2.1 points Urban Honolulu 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 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria more expensive than Urban Honolulu?
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria is 1.9% less expensive than Urban Honolulu. The overall cost index is 108.9 vs 111.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria equals $100K in Urban Honolulu?
A $100,000 salary in Urban Honolulu has the same purchasing power as $98,128 in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Urban Honolulu and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria?
Rents in Urban Honolulu are indexed at 135.5 while Washington-Arlington-Alexandria is at 151.1 (national average = 100). Washington-Arlington-Alexandria 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.