Overall
Diff -0.5 RPP
Albany vs Decatur
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Decatur is 0.5% less expensive than Albany.
0.5% less expensive
Decatur, AL is 0.5% less expensive than Albany, GA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.2 vs 87.7). A $100,000 salary in Albany buys about the same as $99,479 in Decatur; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.7 (Albany) vs 87.2 (Decatur)
- $100k in Albany ≈ $99,479 purchasing power in Decatur
- Services drives the gap (-3.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair GA:AL 87.7→87.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE GA × AL
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Albany
87.7
Cost Index
Decatur
87.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Albany, GA and Decatur, AL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Decatur is 3.5 points lower. But rents and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Albany to $99,479 in Decatur, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
Diff -3.5 RPP
Rents
Diff +3.4 RPP
| Category | Albany | Decatur | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.7 | 87.2 | -0.5 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 96.4 | +0.1 |
| Services | 88.3 | 84.7 | -3.5 |
| Rents | 54.6 | 58.1 | +3.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Albany 87.7
Decatur 87.2
Goods
Albany 96.3
Decatur 96.4
Services
Albany 88.3
Decatur 84.7
Rents
Albany 54.6
Decatur 58.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Albany would need to be in Decatur for the same purchasing power:
| In Albany | In Decatur | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,739 | $-261 |
| $75,000 | $74,609 | $-391 |
| $100,000 | $99,479 | $-521 |
| $150,000 | $149,218 | $-782 |
$ in Albany = in Decatur
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.7 → 87.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Decatur more expensive than Albany?
Decatur is 0.5% less expensive than Albany. The overall cost index is 87.2 vs 87.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Decatur equals $100K in Albany?
A $100,000 salary in Albany has the same purchasing power as $99,479 in Decatur. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Albany and Decatur?
Rents in Albany are indexed at 54.6 while Decatur is at 58.1 (national average = 100). Decatur has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
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.