Overall
- Auburn-Opelika
- 87.9
- Hattiesburg
- 87.6
Diff -0.3 RPP
Auburn-Opelika vs Hattiesburg
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Hattiesburg is 0.3% less expensive than Auburn-Opelika.
0.3% less expensive
Hattiesburg, MS is 0.3% less expensive than Auburn-Opelika, AL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.6 vs 87.9). A $100,000 salary in Auburn-Opelika buys about the same as $99,659 in Hattiesburg; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.9 (Auburn-Opelika) vs 87.6 (Hattiesburg)
- $100k in Auburn-Opelika ≈ $99,659 purchasing power in Hattiesburg
- Services drives the gap (-7.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:MS 87.9→87.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AL × MS
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
Auburn-Opelika
87.9
Cost Index
Hattiesburg
87.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Auburn-Opelika, AL and Hattiesburg, MS are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with Hattiesburg 7.0 points lower than Auburn-Opelika. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
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 Auburn-Opelika to $99,659 in Hattiesburg, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Auburn-Opelika
- 96.4
- Hattiesburg
- 96.2
Diff -0.2 RPP
Services
- Auburn-Opelika
- 83.9
- Hattiesburg
- 76.9
Diff -7.0 RPP
Rents
- Auburn-Opelika
- 62.1
- Hattiesburg
- 60.1
Diff -2.0 RPP
| Category | Auburn-Opelika | Hattiesburg | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.9 | 87.6 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 96.2 | -0.2 |
| Services | 83.9 | 76.9 | -7.0 |
| Rents | 62.1 | 60.1 | -2.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Auburn-Opelika 87.9
Hattiesburg 87.6
Goods
Auburn-Opelika 96.4
Hattiesburg 96.2
Services
Auburn-Opelika 83.9
Hattiesburg 76.9
Rents
Auburn-Opelika 62.1
Hattiesburg 60.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Auburn-Opelika and Hattiesburg share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.6 to 0.3 RPP points. Auburn-Opelika remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 5.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (1.2 to 7.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Auburn-Opelika RPP | Hattiesburg RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 89.3 | 89.9 | 0.6 points Hattiesburg higher |
| 2012 | 90.4 | 89.6 | 0.7 points Auburn-Opelika higher |
| 2016 | 89.7 | 88.5 | 1.2 points Auburn-Opelika higher |
| 2020 | 88.7 | 85.3 | 3.4 points Auburn-Opelika higher |
| 2024 | 87.9 | 87.6 | 0.3 points Auburn-Opelika higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Auburn-Opelika would need to be in Hattiesburg for the same purchasing power:
| In Auburn-Opelika | In Hattiesburg | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,829 | $-171 |
| $75,000 | $74,744 | $-256 |
| $100,000 | $99,659 | $-341 |
| $150,000 | $149,488 | $-512 |
$ in Auburn-Opelika = in Hattiesburg
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.9 → 87.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hattiesburg more expensive than Auburn-Opelika?
Hattiesburg is 0.3% less expensive than Auburn-Opelika. The overall cost index is 87.6 vs 87.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Hattiesburg equals $100K in Auburn-Opelika?
A $100,000 salary in Auburn-Opelika has the same purchasing power as $99,659 in Hattiesburg. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Auburn-Opelika and Hattiesburg?
Rents in Auburn-Opelika are indexed at 62.1 while Hattiesburg is at 60.1 (national average = 100). Auburn-Opelika 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.