Overall
- Walla Walla
- 98.5
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 102.4
Diff +3.9 RPP
Walla Walla vs Mount Vernon-Anacortes
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Mount Vernon-Anacortes is 4% more expensive than Walla Walla.
4% more expensive
Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA is 4% more expensive than Walla Walla, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 102.4 vs 98.5). A $100,000 salary in Walla Walla buys about the same as $103,983 in Mount Vernon-Anacortes; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.5 (Walla Walla) vs 102.4 (Mount Vernon-Anacortes)
- $100k in Walla Walla ≈ $103,983 purchasing power in Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- Rents drives the gap (+21.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:WA 98.5→102.4
TIER-NEAR · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- SAME-STATE Same state · WA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Walla Walla
- 105.0
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 105.0
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
- Walla Walla
- 94.3
Diff +1.7 RPP
Rents
- Walla Walla
- 86.6
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 108.2
Diff +21.6 RPP
| Category | Walla Walla | Mount Vernon-Anacortes | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.5 | 102.4 | +3.9 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 105.0 | 0.0 |
| Services | 94.3 | 96.0 | +1.7 |
| Rents | 86.6 | 108.2 | +21.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Walla Walla 98.5
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 102.4
Goods
Walla Walla 105.0
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 105.0
Services
Walla Walla 94.3
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 96.0
Rents
Walla Walla 86.6
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 108.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Mount Vernon-Anacortes is 21.6 points higher. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA is 4% more expensive than Walla Walla, WA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.9-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Mount Vernon-Anacortes 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 $103,983 in Mount Vernon-Anacortes.
Walla Walla
98.5
Cost Index
Mount Vernon-Anacortes
102.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Walla Walla would need to be in Mount Vernon-Anacortes for the same purchasing power:
| In Walla Walla | In Mount Vernon-Anacortes | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,991 | +$1,991 |
| $75,000 | $77,987 | +$2,987 |
| $100,000 | $103,983 | +$3,983 |
| $150,000 | $155,974 | +$5,974 |
$ in Walla Walla = in Mount Vernon-Anacortes
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.5 → 102.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Walla Walla and Mount Vernon-Anacortes share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 7.3 to 3.9 RPP points. Mount Vernon-Anacortes remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 17.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (38.6 to 21.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Walla Walla RPP | Mount Vernon-Anacortes RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.6 | 102.9 | 7.3 points Mount Vernon-Anacortes higher |
| 2012 | 95.1 | 98.7 | 3.5 points Mount Vernon-Anacortes higher |
| 2016 | 96.3 | 101.4 | 5.1 points Mount Vernon-Anacortes higher |
| 2020 | 95.2 | 102.1 | 6.9 points Mount Vernon-Anacortes higher |
| 2024 | 98.5 | 102.4 | 3.9 points Mount Vernon-Anacortes 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 Mount Vernon-Anacortes more expensive than Walla Walla?
Mount Vernon-Anacortes is 4% more expensive than Walla Walla. The overall cost index is 102.4 vs 98.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Mount Vernon-Anacortes equals $100K in Walla Walla?
A $100,000 salary in Walla Walla has the same purchasing power as $103,983 in Mount Vernon-Anacortes. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Walla Walla and Mount Vernon-Anacortes?
Rents in Walla Walla are indexed at 86.6 while Mount Vernon-Anacortes is at 108.2 (national average = 100). Mount Vernon-Anacortes 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.