Cheapest Places to Live in Oregon: 2024 Metro Ranking

Compare cities and metro areas ranked by the 2024 BEA cost-of-living index in Oregon. 8 metro areas are available.

Grants Pass, OR is the cheapest tracked metro area in Oregon.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Grants Pass, OR has the lowest overall Regional Price Parity in this Oregon ranking at 97.8. The national average is 100, so this comparison identifies the lowest relative price level among the metro areas BEA reports; it does not estimate a household budget or citywide inflation.

  • Grants Pass, OR ranks first of 8 listed Oregon metro areas
  • 1 of 8 listed metros are below the U.S. price-level benchmark

A data-shaped reading

How to read Oregon's affordable metro pattern

The sequence below follows the strongest decision signal in this state's component mix, metro spread, retained-release movement, and national-benchmark coverage.

Component driver

Housing establishes the low-cost floor

Grants Pass, OR's rents index is 79.9, compared with 105.3 for goods and 103.6 for services. That places housing 17.8 points below the metro's overall index. Housing contributes meaningful relief, but the other components remain close enough to matter in a real household budget.

Latest retained release

The relative price index moved downward

From 2023 to 2024, Grants Pass, OR's overall RPP fell by 2.9 points. The largest component move was services, which changed by + 15.4 points. Because RPP is relative to the national price level, this describes movement against the U.S. benchmark, not literal deflation or inflation in a household's bills.

National benchmark coverage

The state ranking crosses the national line

The ranking is split: 1 of 8 listed metros are below 100 and the rest are at or above it. Grants Pass, OR anchors the lower side, but the state average of 102.4 masks that internal divide. Metro-level rows are the decision unit here.

Strength of the lead

The cheapest metro has a visible cushion

Grants Pass, OR leads Medford, OR by 3.7 points. That is large enough to distinguish the first row from the immediate alternative, while the 7.7-point statewide range still leaves room for a different metro to fit a job or housing search better.

# Metro Overall
1 Grants Pass, OR 97.8
2 Medford, OR 101.4
3 Eugene-Springfield, OR 101.6
4 Albany, OR 102.1
5 Bend, OR 103.6
6 Salem, OR 103.6
7 Corvallis, OR 104.0
8 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 105.4

Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities Index where 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.