Overall
- Visalia
- 99.8
Diff -1.6 RPP
Visalia vs Prescott Valley-Prescott
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Prescott Valley-Prescott is 1.6% less expensive than Visalia.
1.6% less expensive
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ is 1.6% less expensive than Visalia, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 99.8). A $100,000 salary in Visalia buys about the same as $98,427 in Prescott Valley-Prescott; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 99.8 (Visalia) vs 98.3 (Prescott Valley-Prescott)
- $100k in Visalia ≈ $98,427 purchasing power in Prescott Valley-Prescott
- Services drives the gap (-65.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:AZ 99.8→98.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE CA × AZ
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 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.
Visalia
99.8
Cost Index
Prescott Valley-Prescott
98.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Visalia, CA and Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.6 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Prescott Valley-Prescott is 65.0 points lower. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
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 Visalia to $98,427 in Prescott Valley-Prescott, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Visalia
- 105.2
Diff -8.9 RPP
Services
- Visalia
- 156.4
Diff -65.0 RPP
Rents
- Visalia
- 84.1
Diff +14.7 RPP
| Category | Visalia | Prescott Valley-Prescott | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 99.8 | 98.3 | -1.6 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 96.2 | -8.9 |
| Services | 156.4 | 91.5 | -65.0 |
| Rents | 84.1 | 98.8 | +14.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Visalia 99.8
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.3
Goods
Visalia 105.2
Prescott Valley-Prescott 96.2
Services
Visalia 156.4
Prescott Valley-Prescott 91.5
Rents
Visalia 84.1
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Visalia would need to be in Prescott Valley-Prescott for the same purchasing power:
| In Visalia | In Prescott Valley-Prescott | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,214 | $-786 |
| $75,000 | $73,820 | $-1,180 |
| $100,000 | $98,427 | $-1,573 |
| $150,000 | $147,641 | $-2,359 |
$ in Visalia = in Prescott Valley-Prescott
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (99.8 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Prescott Valley-Prescott more expensive than Visalia?
Prescott Valley-Prescott is 1.6% less expensive than Visalia. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 99.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott equals $100K in Visalia?
A $100,000 salary in Visalia has the same purchasing power as $98,427 in Prescott Valley-Prescott. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Visalia and Prescott Valley-Prescott?
Rents in Visalia are indexed at 84.1 while Prescott Valley-Prescott is at 98.8 (national average = 100). Prescott Valley-Prescott 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.