Overall
Diff -0.3 RPP
Beckley vs Mobile
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Mobile is 0.3% less expensive than Beckley.
0.3% less expensive
Mobile, AL is 0.3% less expensive than Beckley, WV on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 88.1 vs 88.4). A $100,000 salary in Beckley buys about the same as $99,693 in Mobile; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 88.4 (Beckley) vs 88.1 (Mobile)
- $100k in Beckley ≈ $99,693 purchasing power in Mobile
- Rents drives the gap (+7.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WV:AL 88.4→88.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WV × 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.
Beckley
88.4
Cost Index
Mobile
88.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Beckley, WV and Mobile, AL 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.
Rents creates the largest separation: Mobile is 7.9 points higher. 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 housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Beckley corresponds to $99,693 in Mobile.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
Diff -7.6 RPP
Rents
Diff +7.9 RPP
| Category | Beckley | Mobile | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 88.4 | 88.1 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 96.4 | +0.1 |
| Services | 91.8 | 84.2 | -7.6 |
| Rents | 52.2 | 60.1 | +7.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Beckley 88.4
Mobile 88.1
Goods
Beckley 96.3
Mobile 96.4
Services
Beckley 91.8
Mobile 84.2
Rents
Beckley 52.2
Mobile 60.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Beckley and Mobile share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 7.0 to 0.3 RPP points. Beckley remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 34.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (27.2 to 7.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Beckley RPP | Mobile RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 83.5 | 90.5 | 7.0 points Mobile higher |
| 2012 | 83.6 | 93.0 | 9.4 points Mobile higher |
| 2016 | 83.3 | 92.3 | 9.0 points Mobile higher |
| 2020 | 83.4 | 87.5 | 4.1 points Mobile higher |
| 2024 | 88.4 | 88.1 | 0.3 points Beckley 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 Beckley would need to be in Mobile for the same purchasing power:
| In Beckley | In Mobile | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,847 | $-153 |
| $75,000 | $74,770 | $-230 |
| $100,000 | $99,693 | $-307 |
| $150,000 | $149,540 | $-460 |
$ in Beckley = in Mobile
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.4 → 88.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Mobile more expensive than Beckley?
Mobile is 0.3% less expensive than Beckley. The overall cost index is 88.1 vs 88.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Mobile equals $100K in Beckley?
A $100,000 salary in Beckley has the same purchasing power as $99,693 in Mobile. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Beckley and Mobile?
Rents in Beckley are indexed at 52.2 while Mobile is at 60.1 (national average = 100). Mobile 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.