PlainCost

Tools & Calculators

Free, no-sign-up tools that let you work directly with plaincost's data.

Start with the decision

The same salary can buy 1.38× as much across the most- and least-expensive metros in the current BEA RPP data; choose a calculator to test the places you are actually considering.

115.6
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA RPP — highest metro
83.6
Monroe, LA RPP — lowest metro
1.38×
current purchasing-power spread
2
calculators to use the data

RPP compares prices, not a household's full budget; each tool shows the formula and its limits before you use a result.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis's latest Regional Price Parity data, San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA carries an RPP of 115.6, the highest of any metro on record, against Monroe, LA's 83.6, the lowest — a 1.38× gap in purchasing power. Both calculators below apply this same BEA index to whichever pair of metros you enter; see our methodology for the exact formula.

What's in the archive

Where every metro these calculators draw from sits on the national cost curve

116 Among the least affordable more affordable than 1% of 387 US metros

80–83: 0 US metros (0%). Below this entry. 83–86: 23 US metros (6%). Below this entry. 86–89: 53 US metros (14%). Below this entry. 89–92: 69 US metros (18%). Below this entry. 92–95: 75 US metros (19%). Below this entry. 95–98: 53 US metros (14%). Below this entry. 98–101: 47 US metros (12%). Below this entry. 101–104: 31 US metros (8%). Below this entry. 104–107: 16 US metros (4%). Below this entry. 107–110: 10 US metros (3%). Below this entry. 110–113: 7 US metros (2%). Below this entry. 113–116: 3 US metros (1%). This entry sits in this band. 116–119: 0 US metros (0%). Above this entry. This metro 80 119 all 387 tracked metros, 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

Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. Both calculators run the same purchasing-power formula used throughout the site, applied live to whichever metros you choose. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.