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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

The verdict

Price levels moved further down than up: the fastest riser, Flagstaff, AZ, gained 8.5 RPP points, 0.6 points less than the fastest faller, Wildwood-The Villages, FL, lost.

+8.5
Flagstaff, largest rise
-9.1
Wildwood-The Villages, largest fall
2023–2024
series compared
Flagstaff, AZ rose most; Wildwood-The Villages, FL fell most in the latest retained BEA comparison.

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

  1. 1
    Flagstaff, AZ 8.5 pts higher
    91.9 → 100.3
  2. 2
    Dover, DE 5.6 pts higher
    91.9 → 97.5
  3. 3
    Cheyenne, WY 4.9 pts higher
    91.6 → 96.5
  4. 4
    Santa Fe, NM 4.7 pts higher
    94.1 → 98.8
  5. 5
    Yuma, AZ 4.6 pts higher
    88.1 → 92.7
  6. 6
    Boulder, CO 4.6 pts higher
    100.6 → 105.2
  7. 7
    Ogden, UT 4.2 pts higher
    96.1 → 100.3
  8. 8
    Bangor, ME 4.2 pts higher
    92.3 → 96.5
  9. 9
    Boise City, ID 4.1 pts higher
    94.2 → 98.4
  10. 10
    Kankakee, IL 4.0 pts higher
    92.4 → 96.4

Source U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities · 2026-08-11

Largest all-items RPP decreases

Metro price-level declines from 2023 to 2024

  1. 1
    Wildwood-The Villages, FL 9.1 pts lower
    94.5 → 85.4
  2. 2
    Barnstable Town, MA 8.1 pts lower
    106.5 → 98.4
  3. 3
    Lewiston-Auburn, ME 6.1 pts lower
    100.9 → 94.7
  4. 4
    El Centro, CA 5.0 pts lower
    100.2 → 95.2
  5. 5
    Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA 4.9 pts lower
    113.7 → 108.8
  6. 6
    Salinas, CA 4.1 pts lower
    113.2 → 109.0
  7. 7
    Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC 4.0 pts lower
    92.3 → 88.3
  8. 8
    Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA 3.8 pts lower
    88.9 → 85.1
  9. 9
    Chico, CA 3.5 pts lower
    104.7 → 101.2
  10. 10
    Dothan, AL 3.5 pts lower
    87.4 → 83.8

Source U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities · 2026-08-11

The bar to lead the risers

Where Flagstaff's rise sits among every metro's 2023→2024 move

9 Top 1% higher than 99% of 387 US metros

-10–-8: 2 US metros (1%). Below this entry. -8–-6: 1 US metros (0%). Below this entry. -6–-4: 3 US metros (1%). Below this entry. -4–-2: 38 US metros (10%). Below this entry. -2–0: 142 US metros (37%). Below this entry. 0–2: 143 US metros (37%). Below this entry. 2–4: 49 US metros (13%). Below this entry. 4–6: 8 US metros (2%). Below this entry. 6–8: 0 US metros (0%). Below this entry. 8–10: 1 US metros (0%). This entry sits in this band. Fastest riser -10 10 every US metro's RPP change, bucketed by value

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 · 2026-08-11

The bar to lead the fallers

Where Wildwood-The Villages's swing sits among every metro's move, either direction

9 Top 1% higher than 99% of 387 US metros

0–1: 168 US metros (43%). Below this entry. 1–2: 117 US metros (30%). Below this entry. 2–3: 59 US metros (15%). Below this entry. 3–4: 28 US metros (7%). Below this entry. 4–5: 10 US metros (3%). Below this entry. 5–6: 1 US metros (0%). Below this entry. 6–7: 1 US metros (0%). Below this entry. 7–8: 0 US metros (0%). Below this entry. 8–9: 2 US metros (1%). Below this entry. 9–10: 1 US metros (0%). This entry sits in this band. Fastest faller 0 10 every US metro's swing magnitude, bucketed by value

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 · 2026-08-11

# 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) 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. 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.