How to Read BEA Regional Price Parities and Real Income by State — Price Levels, Real PCE, Implicit Deflators

As of 24 October 2026 (KST); latest release: Real Personal Consumption Expenditures by State and Real Personal Income by State, 2024, released by BEA at 8:30 a.m. EST on February 19, 2026. Next release: December 10, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. EST, for 2025, as stated in the release and listed on BEA's release schedule. Primary sources: https://www.bea.gov/news/2026/real-personal-consumption-expenditures-state-and-real-personal-income-state-2024 and https://www.bea.gov/news/rpce-rpi-release-additional-information^[2][11][12]

Comparison basis: annual data, so the previous year is also the year-ago comparison. Index values are taken from BEA's interactive tables linked from the release, which show three decimals; the release rounds them to one decimal. Changes in percentage points and index points are this page's calculations from those published values; BEA notes that its own "Calculations are performed on unrounded data". The release, its PDF, its supporting pages and the linked tables are all BEA publications and count as one issuer record.^[2][5][7][8]

In three lines 1. Regional price parities (RPPs) express each state's price level as a percentage of the national level for one year; real PCE and real personal income divide current-dollar values by the RPP and the national PCE price index. 2. In 2024 RPPs ranged from 86.9 in Arkansas to 110.7 in California, and real PCE and real personal income for the nation each rose 2.9 percent. 3. 2025 figures are scheduled for December 10, 2026, when the 2024 data will be superseded.^[2][3]

Regional price parities: "Regional price parities (RPPs) are regional price levels expressed as a percentage of the overall national price level for a given year. The price level is determined by the average prices paid by consumers for the mix of goods and services consumed in each region." The CPI price data are combined with housing rents: "These are allocated to counties in combination with direct price and expenditure data on housing rents from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey."^[3]

Real PCE: "Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) at RPPs is current-dollar PCE divided by the price parity for a given year and region." "Real PCE is PCE at RPPs divided by the national PCE price index. The result is real PCE in constant dollars (using 2017 as the reference year)." BEA's worked example (dollar amounts in billions; the RPP and the price index are used as ratios): "$150/1.050 = $142.9", then "$142.9/1.200 = $119.0" of real PCE.^[3]

Real personal income: "Real personal income is personal income at RPPs divided by the national PCE price index." One difference from real PCE: "A balancing factor is applied so the sum of personal income at RPPs across regions equals the current-dollar sum."^[3]

Implicit regional price deflator (IRPD): "Implicit regional price deflator is the product of the RPP and the national PCE price index. It is equal to current-dollar PCE divided by real PCE." In the technical notes: "The growth rate, or year-to-year change, in the IRPDs is a measure of regional inflation."^[3][4]

A level, not a rate of change. "Spatial price indexes measure price level differences across regions for one period." BEA's example: "if the RPP for “area A” is 120 and for “area B” is 90, then price levels are 20 percent higher and 10 percent lower than the U.S. average for areas A and B, respectively." "In other words, the purchasing power of the two incomes is equivalent when adjusted by their respective RPPs."^[4]

Applied to 2024. California's all-items RPP of 110.720 means a price level about 10.7 percent above the U.S. average; Arkansas's 86.937 means about 13.1 percent below. Dividing California's price level by Arkansas's gives about 1.27, so prices were roughly 27% higher in California than in Arkansas (this page's calculation). By the same rule, $100,000 of income in California has the purchasing power of roughly $90,300 at the national price level (100,000 / 1.107, this page's approximate calculation).^[5]

Comparing years needs the deflator. RPPs compare places within one year; for change over time BEA points to the IRPD: "An implicit regional price deflator (IRPD) can be derived by combining the RPPs and the U.S. PCE price index and can be used to compare regional price levels over time."^[2][4]

What goes in. "The RPPs are calculated using price quotes for a wide array of items from the CPI covering apparel, education, food, housing, medical, recreation, transportation, and other goods and services." Rents come from the American Community Survey, and "The multilateral system that is used is the Geary additive method." BEA adds that "The CPI represents about 90 percent of the total U.S. population, including almost all residents of urban or metropolitan areas."^[3][4]

Current dollars vs real. "Montana had the largest decline in real PCE, at –0.2 percent. Current-dollar PCE increased 6.5 percent, while its implicit regional price deflator increased 6.7 percent." Dividing 1.065 by 1.067 gives a change of about -0.2 percent, which is how a 6.5 percent rise in spending becomes a small real decline (this page's approximate check from rounded figures). Massachusetts shows the opposite: "Massachusetts had the largest increase in real PCE, at 5.3 percent. Current-dollar PCE increased 6.1 percent, while its implicit regional price deflator increased 0.8 percent."^[2]

RPP level vs deflator growth. Montana's all-items RPP rose from 91.014 in 2023 to 94.645 in 2024, the largest increase of any state at 3.631 index points; combined with the 2.6 percent national PCE price index, that gives an IRPD increase of about 6.7 percent, matching the published 6.7 (this page's calculation). Massachusetts had the largest RPP decrease, 1.918 index points.^[5][9]

All items vs housing rents. "Across states, California had the highest RPP for housing rents, at 154.3, and West Virginia had the lowest, at 54.2. The RPP for housing rents in the District of Columbia was 155.0." The rent range is much wider than the all-items range: California's rent RPP is about 2.8 times West Virginia's (this page's calculation), consistent with BEA's statement that "Housing rents are often the main driver in differences in RPPs." The District of Columbia's rent RPP fell by about 13.1 index points from 2023 (168.096 to 154.984).^[2][5][6]

Real PCE vs real personal income. Both rose 2.9 percent nationally in 2024, but states differ: North Dakota's real PCE rose 1.1 percent while its real personal income fell 2.2 percent; California's real PCE rose 4.3 percent and its real personal income 5.5 percent (published table values).^[7][8]

IRPD vs BLS regional CPI. "The growth rate of the IRPDs will not necessarily equal the region or metropolitan area price deflators published by BLS." "This is because the CPI deflators are calculated directly, while the IRPDs are indirect estimates based on CPI and ACS price levels and PCE expenditure weights." BEA also states that "The BEA statistics presented herein are products of BEA and not BLS."^[4]

Revisions. "With today’s release, the annual estimates of real PCE by state and real personal income by state from 2008 to 2023 were revised." The linked tables are labeled "new statistics for 2024; revised statistics for 2008-2023". For a 2023 value, use the revised figure in the current tables, not an earlier release.^[2][5]

Metropolitan areas. With the 2024 release, "BEA has discontinued publication of statistics for metropolitan statistical areas and metropolitan and nonmetropolitan portions." "Real PCE and real personal income estimates will continue to be published by state. RPPs will continue to be published by state and local areas."^[1]

BEA's FAQ on aggregate areas. The FAQ the release points to concerns GDP and personal income statistics for county aggregate geographic areas, such as metropolitan statistical areas. It gives two reasons for ending them. On data privacy: "By not publishing county aggregate geography statistics, there are fewer suppressions on BEA’s county statistics." On quality: "The aggregated statistics do not meet BEA’s publication standards."^[10]

Tables outside the release. "However, tables are no longer included within the news release." The state rankings in the release are therefore only highlights; the full state rows are in BEA's interactive tables SARPP, SARPI and SAIRPD. "With the release of 2025 real PCE, real personal income, and RPP by state statistics on December 10, 2026, the 2024 data will be superseded"; after that, the original 2024 data are in BEA's Data Archive.^[2]