Overall
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 99.8
- Kennewick-Richland
- 100.1
Diff +0.3 RPP
Waterbury-Shelton vs Kennewick-Richland
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Kennewick-Richland is 0.3% more expensive than Waterbury-Shelton.
0.3% more expensive
Kennewick-Richland, WA is 0.3% more expensive than Waterbury-Shelton, CT on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.1 vs 99.8). A $100,000 salary in Waterbury-Shelton buys about the same as $100,302 in Kennewick-Richland; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 99.8 (Waterbury-Shelton) vs 100.1 (Kennewick-Richland)
- $100k in Waterbury-Shelton ≈ $100,302 purchasing power in Kennewick-Richland
- Services drives the gap (-54.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CT:WA 99.8→100.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE CT × WA
- 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.
Waterbury-Shelton
99.8
Cost Index
Kennewick-Richland
100.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Waterbury-Shelton, CT and Kennewick-Richland, WA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Kennewick-Richland is 54.0 points lower. But services 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.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Kennewick-Richland is above 100 while Waterbury-Shelton is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 Waterbury-Shelton to $100,302 in Kennewick-Richland, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 97.3
- Kennewick-Richland
- 105.0
Diff +7.7 RPP
Services
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 147.6
- Kennewick-Richland
- 93.6
Diff -54.0 RPP
Rents
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 89.1
- Kennewick-Richland
- 94.8
Diff +5.7 RPP
| Category | Waterbury-Shelton | Kennewick-Richland | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 99.8 | 100.1 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 97.3 | 105.0 | +7.7 |
| Services | 147.6 | 93.6 | -54.0 |
| Rents | 89.1 | 94.8 | +5.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Waterbury-Shelton 99.8
Kennewick-Richland 100.1
Goods
Waterbury-Shelton 97.3
Kennewick-Richland 105.0
Services
Waterbury-Shelton 147.6
Kennewick-Richland 93.6
Rents
Waterbury-Shelton 89.1
Kennewick-Richland 94.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Waterbury-Shelton would need to be in Kennewick-Richland for the same purchasing power:
| In Waterbury-Shelton | In Kennewick-Richland | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,151 | +$151 |
| $75,000 | $75,226 | +$226 |
| $100,000 | $100,302 | +$302 |
| $150,000 | $150,453 | +$453 |
$ in Waterbury-Shelton = in Kennewick-Richland
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (99.8 → 100.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kennewick-Richland more expensive than Waterbury-Shelton?
Kennewick-Richland is 0.3% more expensive than Waterbury-Shelton. The overall cost index is 100.1 vs 99.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Kennewick-Richland equals $100K in Waterbury-Shelton?
A $100,000 salary in Waterbury-Shelton has the same purchasing power as $100,302 in Kennewick-Richland. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Waterbury-Shelton and Kennewick-Richland?
Rents in Waterbury-Shelton are indexed at 89.1 while Kennewick-Richland is at 94.8 (national average = 100). Kennewick-Richland 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.