Overall
Diff -10.2 RPP
Vallejo vs Lancaster
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lancaster is 9.4% less expensive than Vallejo.
9.4% less expensive
Lancaster, PA is 9.4% less expensive than Vallejo, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 108.5). A $100,000 salary in Vallejo buys about the same as $90,577 in Lancaster; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 108.5 (Vallejo) vs 98.3 (Lancaster)
- $100k in Vallejo ≈ $90,577 purchasing power in Lancaster
- Rents drives the gap (-48.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:PA 108.5→98.3
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE CA × PA
- RENT-LED Rent-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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Vallejo would need to be in Lancaster for the same purchasing power:
| In Vallejo | In Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $45,288 | $-4,712 |
| $75,000 | $67,933 | $-7,067 |
| $100,000 | $90,577 | $-9,423 |
| $150,000 | $135,865 | $-14,135 |
$ in Vallejo = in Lancaster
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (108.5 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Vallejo, CA and Lancaster, PA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 10.2 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Vallejo is above 100 while Lancaster is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Lancaster 48.2 points lower than Vallejo. 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 Vallejo corresponds to $90,577 in Lancaster.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -4.5 RPP
Services
Diff -47.7 RPP
Rents
Diff -48.2 RPP
| Category | Vallejo | Lancaster | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 108.5 | 98.3 | -10.2 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 100.7 | -4.5 |
| Services | 155.0 | 107.3 | -47.7 |
| Rents | 142.0 | 93.8 | -48.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Vallejo 108.5
Lancaster 98.3
Goods
Vallejo 105.2
Lancaster 100.7
Services
Vallejo 155.0
Lancaster 107.3
Rents
Vallejo 142.0
Lancaster 93.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Vallejo
108.5
Cost Index
Lancaster
98.3
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lancaster more expensive than Vallejo?
Lancaster is 9.4% less expensive than Vallejo. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 108.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lancaster equals $100K in Vallejo?
A $100,000 salary in Vallejo has the same purchasing power as $90,577 in Lancaster. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Vallejo and Lancaster?
Rents in Vallejo are indexed at 142.0 while Lancaster is at 93.8 (national average = 100). Vallejo 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.