Overall
- Walla Walla
- 98.5
- Chico
- 101.2
Diff +2.7 RPP
Walla Walla vs Chico
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chico is 2.7% more expensive than Walla Walla.
2.7% more expensive
Chico, CA is 2.7% more expensive than Walla Walla, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 101.2 vs 98.5). A $100,000 salary in Walla Walla buys about the same as $102,718 in Chico; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.5 (Walla Walla) vs 101.2 (Chico)
- $100k in Walla Walla ≈ $102,718 purchasing power in Chico
- Services drives the gap (+64.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:CA 98.5→101.2
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE WA × CA
- 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
Chico, CA is 2.7% more expensive than Walla Walla, WA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.7-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Chico is above 100 while Walla Walla is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Services leads the difference, with Chico 64.5 points higher than Walla Walla. 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 Walla Walla to $102,718 in Chico, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Walla Walla and Chico share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 3.8 to 2.7 RPP points. Chico remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 30.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (35.4 to 5.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Walla Walla RPP | Chico RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.6 | 99.4 | 3.8 points Chico higher |
| 2012 | 95.1 | 103.5 | 8.3 points Chico higher |
| 2016 | 96.3 | 97.1 | 0.8 points Chico higher |
| 2020 | 95.2 | 101.8 | 6.6 points Chico higher |
| 2024 | 98.5 | 101.2 | 2.7 points Chico 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
- Walla Walla
- 105.0
- Chico
- 105.2
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
- Walla Walla
- 94.3
- Chico
- 158.8
Diff +64.5 RPP
Rents
- Walla Walla
- 86.6
- Chico
- 91.9
Diff +5.4 RPP
| Category | Walla Walla | Chico | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.5 | 101.2 | +2.7 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 105.2 | +0.1 |
| Services | 94.3 | 158.8 | +64.5 |
| Rents | 86.6 | 91.9 | +5.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Walla Walla 98.5
Chico 101.2
Goods
Walla Walla 105.0
Chico 105.2
Services
Walla Walla 94.3
Chico 158.8
Rents
Walla Walla 86.6
Chico 91.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Walla Walla would need to be in Chico for the same purchasing power:
| In Walla Walla | In Chico | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,359 | +$1,359 |
| $75,000 | $77,039 | +$2,039 |
| $100,000 | $102,718 | +$2,718 |
| $150,000 | $154,077 | +$4,077 |
$ in Walla Walla = in Chico
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.5 → 101.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Walla Walla
98.5
Cost Index
Chico
101.2
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Chico more expensive than Walla Walla?
Chico is 2.7% more expensive than Walla Walla. The overall cost index is 101.2 vs 98.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chico equals $100K in Walla Walla?
A $100,000 salary in Walla Walla has the same purchasing power as $102,718 in Chico. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Walla Walla and Chico?
Rents in Walla Walla are indexed at 86.6 while Chico is at 91.9 (national average = 100). Chico 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.