Overall
- Walla Walla
- 98.5
Diff -4.3 RPP
Walla Walla vs Hagerstown-Martinsburg
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Hagerstown-Martinsburg is 4.4% less expensive than Walla Walla.
4.4% less expensive
Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV is 4.4% less expensive than Walla Walla, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 94.2 vs 98.5). A $100,000 salary in Walla Walla buys about the same as $95,587 in Hagerstown-Martinsburg; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.5 (Walla Walla) vs 94.2 (Hagerstown-Martinsburg)
- $100k in Walla Walla ≈ $95,587 purchasing power in Hagerstown-Martinsburg
- Rents drives the gap (-10.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:MD 98.5→94.2
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE WA × MD
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Walla Walla
- 105.0
Diff -8.6 RPP
Services
- Walla Walla
- 94.3
Diff +1.4 RPP
Rents
- Walla Walla
- 86.6
Diff -10.8 RPP
| Category | Walla Walla | Hagerstown-Martinsburg | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.5 | 94.2 | -4.3 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 96.4 | -8.6 |
| Services | 94.3 | 95.7 | +1.4 |
| Rents | 86.6 | 75.7 | -10.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Walla Walla 98.5
Hagerstown-Martinsburg 94.2
Goods
Walla Walla 105.0
Hagerstown-Martinsburg 96.4
Services
Walla Walla 94.3
Hagerstown-Martinsburg 95.7
Rents
Walla Walla 86.6
Hagerstown-Martinsburg 75.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Hagerstown-Martinsburg is 10.8 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV is 4.4% less expensive than Walla Walla, WA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.3-point overall gap.
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.
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 $95,587 in Hagerstown-Martinsburg.
Walla Walla
98.5
Cost Index
Hagerstown-Martinsburg
94.2
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Walla Walla would need to be in Hagerstown-Martinsburg for the same purchasing power:
| In Walla Walla | In Hagerstown-Martinsburg | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,793 | $-2,207 |
| $75,000 | $71,690 | $-3,310 |
| $100,000 | $95,587 | $-4,413 |
| $150,000 | $143,380 | $-6,620 |
$ in Walla Walla = in Hagerstown-Martinsburg
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.5 → 94.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Walla Walla and Hagerstown-Martinsburg share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 4.6 to 4.3 RPP points. Walla Walla remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 35.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (36.4 to 1.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Walla Walla RPP | Hagerstown-Martinsburg RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.6 | 100.2 | 4.6 points Hagerstown-Martinsburg higher |
| 2012 | 95.1 | 99.3 | 4.2 points Hagerstown-Martinsburg higher |
| 2016 | 96.3 | 99.6 | 3.3 points Hagerstown-Martinsburg higher |
| 2020 | 95.2 | 93.1 | 2.1 points Walla Walla higher |
| 2024 | 98.5 | 94.2 | 4.3 points Walla Walla 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 Hagerstown-Martinsburg more expensive than Walla Walla?
Hagerstown-Martinsburg is 4.4% less expensive than Walla Walla. The overall cost index is 94.2 vs 98.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Hagerstown-Martinsburg equals $100K in Walla Walla?
A $100,000 salary in Walla Walla has the same purchasing power as $95,587 in Hagerstown-Martinsburg. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Walla Walla and Hagerstown-Martinsburg?
Rents in Walla Walla are indexed at 86.6 while Hagerstown-Martinsburg is at 75.7 (national average = 100). Walla Walla 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.