Overall
- York-Hanover
- 96.0
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 103.7
Diff +7.7 RPP
York-Hanover vs Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 8% more expensive than York-Hanover.
8% more expensive
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA is 8% more expensive than York-Hanover, PA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.7 vs 96.0). A $100,000 salary in York-Hanover buys about the same as $107,990 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 96.0 (York-Hanover) vs 103.7 (Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater)
- $100k in York-Hanover ≈ $107,990 purchasing power in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- Rents drives the gap (+36.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair PA:WA 96.0→103.7
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE PA × 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
- York-Hanover
- 100.7
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 105.0
Diff +4.3 RPP
Services
- York-Hanover
- 107.0
Diff -15.3 RPP
Rents
- York-Hanover
- 79.8
- Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
- 116.7
Diff +36.9 RPP
| Category | York-Hanover | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 96.0 | 103.7 | +7.7 |
| Goods | 100.7 | 105.0 | +4.3 |
| Services | 107.0 | 91.7 | -15.3 |
| Rents | 79.8 | 116.7 | +36.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
York-Hanover 96.0
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 103.7
Goods
York-Hanover 100.7
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 105.0
Services
York-Hanover 107.0
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 91.7
Rents
York-Hanover 79.8
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 116.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 36.9 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA is 8% more expensive than York-Hanover, PA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 7.7-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is above 100 while York-Hanover 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 York-Hanover corresponds to $107,990 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater.
York-Hanover
96.0
Cost Index
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
103.7
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in York-Hanover would need to be in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater for the same purchasing power:
| In York-Hanover | In Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,995 | +$3,995 |
| $75,000 | $80,992 | +$5,992 |
| $100,000 | $107,990 | +$7,990 |
| $150,000 | $161,984 | +$11,984 |
$ in York-Hanover = in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (96.0 → 103.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
York-Hanover and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 6.2 to 7.7 RPP points. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 15.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (30.7 to 15.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | York-Hanover RPP | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.1 | 105.4 | 6.2 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2012 | 96.5 | 101.3 | 4.8 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2016 | 98.0 | 106.0 | 8.0 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2020 | 97.7 | 101.9 | 4.2 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater higher |
| 2024 | 96.0 | 103.7 | 7.7 points Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 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 Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater more expensive than York-Hanover?
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is 8% more expensive than York-Hanover. The overall cost index is 103.7 vs 96.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater equals $100K in York-Hanover?
A $100,000 salary in York-Hanover has the same purchasing power as $107,990 in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between York-Hanover and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater?
Rents in York-Hanover are indexed at 79.8 while Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater is at 116.7 (national average = 100). Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater 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.