Metro release-change ranking
Which metro price levels moved most?
Flagstaff, AZ had the largest increase in all-items RPP, while Wildwood-The Villages, FL had the largest decrease, across the latest two retained BEA annual series.
- +8.5
- Largest increase
- -9.1
- Largest decrease
- 2023-2024
- Series compared
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, this page compares each eligible metro's all-items Regional Price Parity between the 2023 and 2024 retained annual series. Flagstaff, AZ rose 8.5 index points, while Wildwood-The Villages, FL moved -9.1 points. These are relative price-level changes, not local inflation rates.
- Flagstaff, AZ: +8.5 RPP points across the retained series
- Wildwood-The Villages, FL: -9.1 RPP points across the retained series
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, this ranking compares the retained 2023 and 2024 all-items Regional Price Parities for eligible U.S. metros. The May 2026 data snapshot is a relative price-level index, not a local inflation rate, household budget, or explanation for why a metro changed. See the methodology for the retained-series process.
This ranking computes the year-over-year change in each U.S. metropolitan area's BEA all-items RPP, surfacing the metros where relative price levels rose the most between the two most recent BEA release years. The delta is the simple difference (RPP₍latest₎ − RPP₍prior₎); a positive value means the metro became more expensive relative to the U.S. national average, while a negative value means it became relatively cheaper.
Important caveat: this is a relative price-level shift, not absolute inflation. A metro can show a positive RPP delta while still experiencing nominal price increases below the national average, it just means national inflation rose faster elsewhere. For absolute inflation, see BLS CPI; for the absolute most-expensive metros, see most-expensive rankings.
Largest all-items RPP increases
Metro price-level rises from 2023 to 2024
- Flagstaff
Flagstaff, AZ
8.5 index points higher
- Dover
Dover, DE
5.6 index points higher
- Cheyenne
Cheyenne, WY
4.9 index points higher
- Santa Fe
Santa Fe, NM
4.7 index points higher
- Yuma
Yuma, AZ
4.6 index points higher
- Boulder
Boulder, CO
4.6 index points higher
- Ogden
Ogden, UT
4.2 index points higher
- Bangor
Bangor, ME
4.2 index points higher
- Boise City
Boise City, ID
4.1 index points higher
- Kankakee
Kankakee, IL
4 index points higher
What this shows Flagstaff, AZ leads this retained-series comparison. A positive RPP change means the metro's relative price level rose against the national basket, not that local prices rose by the same percentage.
Largest all-items RPP decreases
Metro price-level declines from 2023 to 2024
- Wildwood-The Villages
Wildwood-The Villages, FL
9.1 index points lower
- Barnstable Town
Barnstable Town, MA
8.1 index points lower
- Lewiston-Auburn
Lewiston-Auburn, ME
6.1 index points lower
- El Centro
El Centro, CA
5 index points lower
- Santa Maria-Santa Barbara
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA
4.9 index points lower
- Salinas
Salinas, CA
4.1 index points lower
- Pinehurst-Southern Pines
Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC
4 index points lower
- Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA
3.8 index points lower
- Chico 3.5
Chico, CA
3.5 index points lower
- Dothan 3.5
Dothan, AL
3.5 index points lower
What this shows Wildwood-The Villages, FL leads the measured decline. The bars show the magnitude of each decrease; the before-and-after values remain visible in the tooltip.
| # | Metro | Δ RPP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flagstaff, AZ | +8.5 |
| 2 | Dover, DE | +5.6 |
| 3 | Cheyenne, WY | +4.9 |
| 4 | Santa Fe, NM | +4.7 |
| 5 | Yuma, AZ | +4.6 |
| 6 | Boulder, CO | +4.6 |
| 7 | Ogden, UT | +4.2 |
| 8 | Bangor, ME | +4.2 |
| 9 | Boise City, ID | +4.1 |
| 10 | Kankakee, IL | +4.0 |
| 11 | Fort Collins-Loveland, CO | +3.8 |
| 12 | Ithaca, NY | +3.8 |
| 13 | Salt Lake City-Murray, UT | +3.7 |
| 14 | Idaho Falls, ID | +3.6 |
| 15 | Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ | +3.6 |
| 16 | Helena, MT | +3.6 |
| 17 | Greeley, CO | +3.5 |
| 18 | Bozeman, MT | +3.5 |
| 19 | Great Falls, MT | +3.4 |
| 20 | Mankato, MN | +3.3 |
| 21 | Lewiston, ID-WA | +3.3 |
| 22 | Carson City, NV | +3.2 |
| 23 | Billings, MT | +3.2 |
| 24 | Flint, MI | +3.2 |
| 25 | Sheboygan, WI | +3.1 |
What this means for you
How to read a fast-rising metro before you shortlist a move.
- Flagstaff rose the fastest, +8.5 RPP points year-over-year, from 91.9 to 100.3. See full profile
- A fast year-over-year rise measures direction, not the current price level, a metro can be climbing quickly and still be cheaper overall than a slow-rising one. Cheapest metros
The delta compares BEA's two most recent published annual releases for each metro, not a real-time trend, and a single year's move can reverse in the next release.
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis · Regional Price Parities (msa_history) Bureau of Economic Analysis · Regional Price Parities (msa_history) Year-over-year delta computed from BEA's published historical series. National average = 100.
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no figure 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 2026-05-15. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.