Overall
- Anniston-Oxford
- 85.9
- St. Joseph
- 86.4
Diff +0.4 RPP
Anniston-Oxford vs St. Joseph
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. St. Joseph is 0.5% more expensive than Anniston-Oxford.
0.5% more expensive
St. Joseph, MO-KS is 0.5% more expensive than Anniston-Oxford, AL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 86.4 vs 85.9). A $100,000 salary in Anniston-Oxford buys about the same as $100,504 in St. Joseph; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 85.9 (Anniston-Oxford) vs 86.4 (St. Joseph)
- $100k in Anniston-Oxford ≈ $100,504 purchasing power in St. Joseph
- Goods drives the gap (-2.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:MO 85.9→86.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AL × MO
- 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.
Anniston-Oxford
85.9
Cost Index
St. Joseph
86.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Anniston-Oxford, AL and St. Joseph, MO-KS are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Goods creates the largest separation: St. Joseph is 2.2 points lower. But 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 goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $100,504 in St. Joseph as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Anniston-Oxford, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Anniston-Oxford
- 96.4
- St. Joseph
- 94.2
Diff -2.2 RPP
Services
- Anniston-Oxford
- 87.1
- St. Joseph
- 88.3
Diff +1.2 RPP
Rents
- Anniston-Oxford
- 54.7
- St. Joseph
- 55.4
Diff +0.7 RPP
| Category | Anniston-Oxford | St. Joseph | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.9 | 86.4 | +0.4 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 94.2 | -2.2 |
| Services | 87.1 | 88.3 | +1.2 |
| Rents | 54.7 | 55.4 | +0.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Anniston-Oxford 85.9
St. Joseph 86.4
Goods
Anniston-Oxford 96.4
St. Joseph 94.2
Services
Anniston-Oxford 87.1
St. Joseph 88.3
Rents
Anniston-Oxford 54.7
St. Joseph 55.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Anniston-Oxford would need to be in St. Joseph for the same purchasing power:
| In Anniston-Oxford | In St. Joseph | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,252 | +$252 |
| $75,000 | $75,378 | +$378 |
| $100,000 | $100,504 | +$504 |
| $150,000 | $150,756 | +$756 |
$ in Anniston-Oxford = in St. Joseph
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.9 → 86.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is St. Joseph more expensive than Anniston-Oxford?
St. Joseph is 0.5% more expensive than Anniston-Oxford. The overall cost index is 86.4 vs 85.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in St. Joseph equals $100K in Anniston-Oxford?
A $100,000 salary in Anniston-Oxford has the same purchasing power as $100,504 in St. Joseph. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Anniston-Oxford and St. Joseph?
Rents in Anniston-Oxford are indexed at 54.7 while St. Joseph is at 55.4 (national average = 100). St. Joseph 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.