Overall
- Yakima
- 95.5
Diff +4.4 RPP
Yakima vs Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton is 4.6% more expensive than Yakima.
4.6% more expensive
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ is 4.6% more expensive than Yakima, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.0 vs 95.5). A $100,000 salary in Yakima buys about the same as $104,629 in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 95.5 (Yakima) vs 100.0 (Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton)
- $100k in Yakima ≈ $104,629 purchasing power in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton
- Rents drives the gap (+32.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:PA 95.5→100.0
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE WA × PA
- 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
- Yakima
- 105.0
Diff -4.5 RPP
Services
- Yakima
- 91.9
Diff +15.7 RPP
Rents
- Yakima
- 72.6
Diff +32.9 RPP
| Category | Yakima | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 95.5 | 100.0 | +4.4 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 100.6 | -4.5 |
| Services | 91.9 | 107.6 | +15.7 |
| Rents | 72.6 | 105.5 | +32.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Yakima 95.5
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 100.0
Goods
Yakima 105.0
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 100.6
Services
Yakima 91.9
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 107.6
Rents
Yakima 72.6
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 105.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton is 32.9 points higher. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ is 4.6% more expensive than Yakima, WA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.4-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 Yakima corresponds to $104,629 in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton.
Yakima
95.5
Cost Index
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton
100.0
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Yakima would need to be in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton for the same purchasing power:
| In Yakima | In Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,315 | +$2,315 |
| $75,000 | $78,472 | +$3,472 |
| $100,000 | $104,629 | +$4,629 |
| $150,000 | $156,944 | +$6,944 |
$ in Yakima = in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (95.5 → 100.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Yakima and Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 8.0 to 4.4 RPP points. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 24.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (40.6 to 15.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Yakima RPP | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 93.0 | 101.1 | 8.0 points Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton higher |
| 2012 | 97.1 | 99.9 | 2.8 points Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton higher |
| 2016 | 94.4 | 101.1 | 6.7 points Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton higher |
| 2020 | 96.2 | 99.7 | 3.5 points Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton higher |
| 2024 | 95.5 | 100.0 | 4.4 points Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 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 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton more expensive than Yakima?
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton is 4.6% more expensive than Yakima. The overall cost index is 100.0 vs 95.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton equals $100K in Yakima?
A $100,000 salary in Yakima has the same purchasing power as $104,629 in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Yakima and Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton?
Rents in Yakima are indexed at 72.6 while Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton is at 105.5 (national average = 100). Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 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.