Overall
103.2
Above avg
Metro cost profile · 2024 BEA RPP
Fairbanks-College, AK
Cost-of-living indicators for Fairbanks-College, AK, from Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities, overall, goods, services, and rents vs the U.S. average of 100.
- 103.2
- Overall RPP
- #45
- of 387 metros
- 92.6
- Rents RPP
- $97K
- $100K national buys
Fairbanks ranks #45 of 387 U.S. metros by cost, and its overall price index has held steady since 2008.
- stable since 2008
- similar cost to Naples-Marco Island
The verdict
Fairbanks is more expensive than 88% of U.S. metros, an overall cost index of 103.2, 3.2% above the national average, led by services at 119.8.
- top 12%
- by overall cost, nationwide
- 107.3
- goods RPP, tradable items
- 119.8
- services RPP, labor-priced
A $100,000 national salary carries the purchasing power of about $96,892 here; matching a $100K lifestyle takes roughly $103,208.
Service-cost-led profile
How Fairbanks's cost structure works
Services are the defining pressure in Fairbanks: the BEA services component is 119.8, farther above the national baseline than local rents or tradable goods. That service-heavy pattern explains an overall RPP of 103.2 differently from a housing-led metro.
Across all reported metros, the closest component-profile matches are Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA, State College, PA, Lancaster, PA. They resemble Fairbanks across goods, services, and rents together, so they are stronger structure peers than a place selected only because its overall RPP happens to be nearby.
Across 2008-2024, Fairbanks's overall index has stayed within 1.5 points. This is a relative price-level history, not a prediction or a personal affordability recommendation; pair it with current local wages and housing options before making a decision.
Fairbanks vs every U.S. metro
Where this metro sits in the national cost distribution
103 Top 12% higher than 88% of 387 US metros
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities · 2024
Fairbanks cost breakdown
BEA RPP by category, 100 = national average
- Rents
Rents
92.6 RPP
- Services
Services
119.8 RPP
- Overall
Overall
103.2 RPP
- Goods
Goods
107.3 RPP
What this shows Fairbanks's strongest departure is services at 119.8; rents follows at 92.6. Labor-priced local activity, rather than housing alone, is the first budget line to investigate.
Goods vs. housing, where Fairbanks's cost comes from
Metros near Fairbanks's overall cost, plotted by their goods price (horizontal) and housing price (vertical). Same headline RPP, very different structures.
Read the chart as text
- Fairbanks (Fairbanks, this metro): goods RPP 107.3, rents RPP 92.6
- Naples: goods RPP 96.2, rents RPP 129.4
- Trenton: goods RPP 99.8, rents RPP 135.1
- Phoenix: goods RPP 95, rents RPP 121.2
- Ithaca: goods RPP 99.7, rents RPP 128.4
- Dallas: goods RPP 102.8, rents RPP 117.9
- Bellingham: goods RPP 105, rents RPP 112.9
Price Index Summary
Goods
107.3
Above avg
Services
119.8
Expensive
Rents
92.6
Below avg
RPP History (2008-2024)
The cost of living has remained relatively stable, changing by only 1.5 points over this period. The largest single-year move was in 2022, when the index dropped 5.9 points from the year before, a bigger swing than the full 2008-2024 change.
Fairbanks overall RPP, 2008-2024
Every year on record, national average = 100
| Year | Overall |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 104.7 |
| 2009 | 102.7 |
| 2010 | 102.2 |
| 2011 | 102.7 |
| 2012 | 97.9 |
| 2013 | 97.7 |
| 2014 | 101.3 |
| 2015 | 100.6 |
| 2016 | 100.4 |
| 2017 | 103.8 |
| 2018 | 104.6 |
| 2019 | 103.1 |
| 2020 | 99.4 |
| 2021 | 104.6 |
| 2022 | 98.7 |
| 2023 | 101.2 |
| 2024 | 103.2 |
Latest BEA release change
What changed from 2023 to 2024
Fairbanks's overall RPP rose +2.0 points, from 101.2 in 2023 to 103.2 in 2024. The largest category movement was rents, changing from 79.7 to 92.6. This is a relative change against the national benchmark, not a household's dollar bill.
Salary Equivalent
A $100,000 salary at the national average cost of living equals:
$103,208
in Fairbanks-College, AK purchasing power
$50,000 nationally
$51,604
$75,000 nationally
$77,406
$125,000 nationally
$129,010
$150,000 nationally
$154,812
$200,000 nationally
$206,416
Use the salary calculator for custom amounts.
Affordability score
D
33/100
How far the median local paycheck goes here, combining income and housing cost
Purchasing power
Not reported
Housing affordability D
33rd percentile
A weighted composite (60% purchasing power, 40% housing affordability) percentile-ranked against every other tracked metro; a missing input redistributes its weight rather than deflating the score. Sources: Census ACS 5-Year 2023 (income) + BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 (cost). Vintages differ by design; see methodology.
Decision peers
Metros with a similar cost mix
These metros are closest to Fairbanks's combined goods, services, and rents profile. They may not have the same overall RPP, but their price pressures are shaped in a similar way.
Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA
Goods 100.7 · Services 108.1 · Rents 96.3 State College, PA
Goods 100.7 · Services 109.5 · Rents 85.7 Lancaster, PA
Goods 100.7 · Services 107.3 · Rents 93.8 Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ
Goods 99.8 · Services 109.2 · Rents 98.7 Reading, PA
Goods 100.7 · Services 108.2 · Rents 85.4 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
Goods 98.8 · Services 107.0 · Rents 94.7
AK-relative analysis
Goods prices places Fairbanks-College, AK near the bottom of AK's metros
Among the 2 AK metros PlainCost tracks with reported goods prices data, Fairbanks-College, AK ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide rank above: it compares Fairbanks-College, AK only against its own state's metros, not the full US field.
Goods prices
#1 of 2
0th percentile in AK
Services prices
#1 of 2
50th percentile in AK
Rent prices
#2 of 2
0th percentile in AK
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "more expensive is worse", see the national comparison above for direction context. This is a comparison within AK only, not a livability score.
Nationwide metros with similar overall cost or rent prices
Two BEA RPP-derived peer sets for Fairbanks-College, AK: nearest metros by overall regional price parity and by rents RPP. These are cross-state neighborhoods, not the in-state metro list below.
Similar overall RPP
Nearest metros by overall regional price parity (103.2 here).
Similar rents RPP
Nearest metros by rents regional price parity (92.6 here).
Metros with Similar Cost of Living
These metros have an overall RPP closest to Fairbanks-College, AK's index of 103.2.
Showing the 6 closest of 387 metro areas tracked nationally.
Cost of living guides →, cheapest and most-expensive metro rankings, salary negotiation with RPP data, and step-by-step comparison walkthroughs.
Compare to Other Metros
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Take this cost snapshot with you
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What this means for Fairbanks
How to read Fairbanks's cost of living before a move, a job offer, or a budget.
- Budget to local prices, not headline pay, a $100K national salary spends like about $96,892 in Fairbanks. Salary calculator
- Start with services: it indexes at 119.8, the largest departure from the national benchmark in this metro's BEA cost mix. Compare it with the other components before treating the overall RPP as a complete household budget.
- Compare Fairbanks head-to-head against a specific destination before you decide. Compare metros
RPP is BEA's annual price-level benchmark for the data year shown, not a live market quote. Pair it with current local wages and housing costs before deciding.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cost of living in Fairbanks-College, AK?
Fairbanks-College, AK has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) index of 103.2, meaning it is 3.2% more expensive than the national average. Goods are indexed at 107.3, services at 119.8, and rents at 92.6. It ranks #45 out of 387 U.S. metro areas by overall cost.
What salary do I need in Fairbanks-College, AK to match $100K nationally?
To maintain the same purchasing power as a $100,000 salary at the national average, you would need approximately $103,208 in Fairbanks-College, AK. Conversely, $100K earned in Fairbanks-College, AK has the purchasing power of $96,892 at the national average.
How expensive is rent in Fairbanks-College, AK?
Rents in Fairbanks-College, AK are indexed at 92.6, which is 7.4% below the national average. This is close to the U.S. average.
Is Fairbanks-College, AK getting more expensive?
From 2008 to 2024, Fairbanks-College, AK's overall cost index changed by -1.5 points (from 104.7 to 103.2). The cost of living has remained relatively stable.
What costs the most in Fairbanks-College, AK?
The priciest category in Fairbanks-College, AK is services at 119.8, 19.8% above the national average. The most affordable category is rents at 92.6, 7.4% below average.
What metros have a similar cost of living to Fairbanks-College, AK?
Metros with the most similar overall cost index include Naples-Marco Island, Trenton-Princeton, Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler. These areas have RPP values within a few points of Fairbanks-College, AK's 103.2.
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.