Overall
Diff +0.3 RPP
Yuma vs Columbus
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Columbus is 0.3% more expensive than Yuma.
0.3% more expensive
Columbus, IN is 0.3% more expensive than Yuma, AZ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 93.0 vs 92.7). A $100,000 salary in Yuma buys about the same as $100,320 in Columbus; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 92.7 (Yuma) vs 93.0 (Columbus)
- $100k in Yuma ≈ $100,320 purchasing power in Columbus
- Goods drives the gap (-1.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AZ:IN 92.7→93.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AZ × IN
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Yuma
92.7
Cost Index
Columbus
93.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Yuma, AZ and Columbus, IN 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.
Goods creates the largest separation: Columbus is 1.9 points lower. But goods and 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.
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 goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $100,320 in Columbus as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Yuma, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -1.9 RPP
Services
Diff -1.3 RPP
Rents
Diff +1.7 RPP
| Category | Yuma | Columbus | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.7 | 93.0 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 94.3 | -1.9 |
| Services | 87.8 | 86.6 | -1.3 |
| Rents | 73.8 | 75.5 | +1.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Yuma 92.7
Columbus 93.0
Goods
Yuma 96.2
Columbus 94.3
Services
Yuma 87.8
Columbus 86.6
Rents
Yuma 73.8
Columbus 75.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Yuma and Columbus share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 8.4 to 0.3 RPP points. Columbus remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 16.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (18.1 to 1.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Yuma RPP | Columbus RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 92.4 | 84.0 | 8.4 points Yuma higher |
| 2012 | 93.8 | 90.4 | 3.4 points Yuma higher |
| 2016 | 92.7 | 87.9 | 4.8 points Yuma higher |
| 2020 | 88.7 | 91.4 | 2.8 points Columbus higher |
| 2024 | 92.7 | 93.0 | 0.3 points Columbus 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 Yuma would need to be in Columbus for the same purchasing power:
| In Yuma | In Columbus | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,160 | +$160 |
| $75,000 | $75,240 | +$240 |
| $100,000 | $100,320 | +$320 |
| $150,000 | $150,481 | +$481 |
$ in Yuma = in Columbus
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.7 → 93.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Columbus more expensive than Yuma?
Columbus is 0.3% more expensive than Yuma. The overall cost index is 93.0 vs 92.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Columbus equals $100K in Yuma?
A $100,000 salary in Yuma has the same purchasing power as $100,320 in Columbus. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Yuma and Columbus?
Rents in Yuma are indexed at 73.8 while Columbus is at 75.5 (national average = 100). Columbus 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.