Overall
- Cape Girardeau
- 86.1
- Salem
- 103.6
Diff +17.6 RPP
Cape Girardeau vs Salem
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Salem is 20.4% more expensive than Cape Girardeau.
20.4% more expensive
Salem, OR is 20.4% more expensive than Cape Girardeau, MO-IL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 86.1). A $100,000 salary in Cape Girardeau buys about the same as $120,413 in Salem; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 86.1 (Cape Girardeau) vs 103.6 (Salem)
- $100k in Cape Girardeau ≈ $120,413 purchasing power in Salem
- Rents drives the gap (+53.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MO:OR 86.1→103.6
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE MO × OR
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-STEEP Steep PP convert
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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Cape Girardeau would need to be in Salem for the same purchasing power:
| In Cape Girardeau | In Salem | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $60,206 | +$10,206 |
| $75,000 | $90,310 | +$15,310 |
| $100,000 | $120,413 | +$20,413 |
| $150,000 | $180,619 | +$30,619 |
$ in Cape Girardeau = in Salem
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.1 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Cape Girardeau, MO-IL and Salem, OR sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 17.6 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Salem is above 100 while Cape Girardeau is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Salem 53.9 points higher than Cape Girardeau. 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.
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 Cape Girardeau corresponds to $120,413 in Salem.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Cape Girardeau
- 94.2
- Salem
- 105.3
Diff +11.0 RPP
Services
- Cape Girardeau
- 85.6
- Salem
- 104.7
Diff +19.1 RPP
Rents
- Cape Girardeau
- 56.4
- Salem
- 110.3
Diff +53.9 RPP
| Category | Cape Girardeau | Salem | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.1 | 103.6 | +17.6 |
| Goods | 94.2 | 105.3 | +11.0 |
| Services | 85.6 | 104.7 | +19.1 |
| Rents | 56.4 | 110.3 | +53.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Cape Girardeau 86.1
Salem 103.6
Goods
Cape Girardeau 94.2
Salem 105.3
Services
Cape Girardeau 85.6
Salem 104.7
Rents
Cape Girardeau 56.4
Salem 110.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
Cape Girardeau
86.1
Cost Index
Salem
103.6
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Cape Girardeau and Salem share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 12.9 to 17.6 RPP points. Salem remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 35.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (18.8 to 53.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Cape Girardeau RPP | Salem RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 81.3 | 94.1 | 12.9 points Salem higher |
| 2012 | 88.5 | 101.1 | 12.5 points Salem higher |
| 2016 | 86.1 | 97.1 | 11.0 points Salem higher |
| 2020 | 88.9 | 100.9 | 12.1 points Salem higher |
| 2024 | 86.1 | 103.6 | 17.6 points Salem 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Salem more expensive than Cape Girardeau?
Salem is 20.4% more expensive than Cape Girardeau. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 86.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Salem equals $100K in Cape Girardeau?
A $100,000 salary in Cape Girardeau has the same purchasing power as $120,413 in Salem. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Cape Girardeau and Salem?
Rents in Cape Girardeau are indexed at 56.4 while Salem is at 110.3 (national average = 100). Salem 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.