Overall
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 87.7
- Parkersburg-Vienna
- 87.1
Diff -0.6 RPP
Watertown-Fort Drum vs Parkersburg-Vienna
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Parkersburg-Vienna is 0.7% less expensive than Watertown-Fort Drum.
0.7% less expensive
Parkersburg-Vienna, WV is 0.7% less expensive than Watertown-Fort Drum, NY on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.1 vs 87.7). A $100,000 salary in Watertown-Fort Drum buys about the same as $99,288 in Parkersburg-Vienna; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.7 (Watertown-Fort Drum) vs 87.1 (Parkersburg-Vienna)
- $100k in Watertown-Fort Drum ≈ $99,288 purchasing power in Parkersburg-Vienna
- Services drives the gap (-39.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NY:WV 87.7→87.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NY × WV
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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.
Watertown-Fort Drum
87.7
Cost Index
Parkersburg-Vienna
87.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Watertown-Fort Drum, NY and Parkersburg-Vienna, WV are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.6 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with Parkersburg-Vienna 39.3 points lower than Watertown-Fort Drum. 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.
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.
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 Watertown-Fort Drum to $99,288 in Parkersburg-Vienna, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 99.7
- Parkersburg-Vienna
- 96.3
Diff -3.4 RPP
Services
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 132.2
- Parkersburg-Vienna
- 92.9
Diff -39.3 RPP
Rents
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 53.2
- Parkersburg-Vienna
- 45.9
Diff -7.3 RPP
| Category | Watertown-Fort Drum | Parkersburg-Vienna | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.7 | 87.1 | -0.6 |
| Goods | 99.7 | 96.3 | -3.4 |
| Services | 132.2 | 92.9 | -39.3 |
| Rents | 53.2 | 45.9 | -7.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Watertown-Fort Drum 87.7
Parkersburg-Vienna 87.1
Goods
Watertown-Fort Drum 99.7
Parkersburg-Vienna 96.3
Services
Watertown-Fort Drum 132.2
Parkersburg-Vienna 92.9
Rents
Watertown-Fort Drum 53.2
Parkersburg-Vienna 45.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Watertown-Fort Drum and Parkersburg-Vienna share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 6.5 to 0.6 RPP points. Watertown-Fort Drum remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 26.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (65.9 to 39.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Watertown-Fort Drum RPP | Parkersburg-Vienna RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 93.5 | 87.0 | 6.5 points Watertown-Fort Drum higher |
| 2012 | 98.8 | 91.6 | 7.1 points Watertown-Fort Drum higher |
| 2016 | 98.4 | 92.7 | 5.7 points Watertown-Fort Drum higher |
| 2020 | 90.7 | 86.2 | 4.6 points Watertown-Fort Drum higher |
| 2024 | 87.7 | 87.1 | 0.6 points Watertown-Fort Drum 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Watertown-Fort Drum would need to be in Parkersburg-Vienna for the same purchasing power:
| In Watertown-Fort Drum | In Parkersburg-Vienna | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,644 | $-356 |
| $75,000 | $74,466 | $-534 |
| $100,000 | $99,288 | $-712 |
| $150,000 | $148,933 | $-1,067 |
$ in Watertown-Fort Drum = in Parkersburg-Vienna
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.7 → 87.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Parkersburg-Vienna more expensive than Watertown-Fort Drum?
Parkersburg-Vienna is 0.7% less expensive than Watertown-Fort Drum. The overall cost index is 87.1 vs 87.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Parkersburg-Vienna equals $100K in Watertown-Fort Drum?
A $100,000 salary in Watertown-Fort Drum has the same purchasing power as $99,288 in Parkersburg-Vienna. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Watertown-Fort Drum and Parkersburg-Vienna?
Rents in Watertown-Fort Drum are indexed at 53.2 while Parkersburg-Vienna is at 45.9 (national average = 100). Watertown-Fort Drum 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.