Overall
- Walla Walla
- 98.5
- Colorado Springs
- 100.7
Diff +2.2 RPP
Walla Walla vs Colorado Springs
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Colorado Springs is 2.2% more expensive than Walla Walla.
2.2% more expensive
Colorado Springs, CO is 2.2% more expensive than Walla Walla, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.7 vs 98.5). A $100,000 salary in Walla Walla buys about the same as $102,221 in Colorado Springs; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.5 (Walla Walla) vs 100.7 (Colorado Springs)
- $100k in Walla Walla ≈ $102,221 purchasing power in Colorado Springs
- Rents drives the gap (+29.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:CO 98.5→100.7
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE WA × CO
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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
- Walla Walla
- 105.0
- Colorado Springs
- 96.1
Diff -9.0 RPP
Services
- Walla Walla
- 94.3
- Colorado Springs
- 83.2
Diff -11.1 RPP
Rents
- Walla Walla
- 86.6
- Colorado Springs
- 116.2
Diff +29.6 RPP
| Category | Walla Walla | Colorado Springs | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.5 | 100.7 | +2.2 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 96.1 | -9.0 |
| Services | 94.3 | 83.2 | -11.1 |
| Rents | 86.6 | 116.2 | +29.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Walla Walla 98.5
Colorado Springs 100.7
Goods
Walla Walla 105.0
Colorado Springs 96.1
Services
Walla Walla 94.3
Colorado Springs 83.2
Rents
Walla Walla 86.6
Colorado Springs 116.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Colorado Springs is 29.6 points higher. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Colorado Springs, CO is 2.2% more expensive than Walla Walla, WA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.2-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Colorado Springs is above 100 while Walla Walla is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 Walla Walla corresponds to $102,221 in Colorado Springs.
Walla Walla
98.5
Cost Index
Colorado Springs
100.7
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Walla Walla would need to be in Colorado Springs for the same purchasing power:
| In Walla Walla | In Colorado Springs | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,110 | +$1,110 |
| $75,000 | $76,666 | +$1,666 |
| $100,000 | $102,221 | +$2,221 |
| $150,000 | $153,331 | +$3,331 |
$ in Walla Walla = in Colorado Springs
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.5 → 100.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Walla Walla and Colorado Springs share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 2.4 to 2.2 RPP points. Colorado Springs remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 23.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (12.7 to 11.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Walla Walla RPP | Colorado Springs RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.6 | 98.0 | 2.4 points Colorado Springs higher |
| 2012 | 95.1 | 102.2 | 7.1 points Colorado Springs higher |
| 2016 | 96.3 | 99.0 | 2.7 points Colorado Springs higher |
| 2020 | 95.2 | 98.6 | 3.4 points Colorado Springs higher |
| 2024 | 98.5 | 100.7 | 2.2 points Colorado Springs 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 Colorado Springs more expensive than Walla Walla?
Colorado Springs is 2.2% more expensive than Walla Walla. The overall cost index is 100.7 vs 98.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Colorado Springs equals $100K in Walla Walla?
A $100,000 salary in Walla Walla has the same purchasing power as $102,221 in Colorado Springs. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Walla Walla and Colorado Springs?
Rents in Walla Walla are indexed at 86.6 while Colorado Springs is at 116.2 (national average = 100). Colorado Springs 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.