Overall
- Bloomington
- 95.1
Diff +0.4 RPP
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley vs Bloomington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Bloomington is 0.4% more expensive than Daphne-Fairhope-Foley.
0.4% more expensive
Bloomington, IN is 0.4% more expensive than Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 95.1 vs 94.7). A $100,000 salary in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley buys about the same as $100,416 in Bloomington; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 94.7 (Daphne-Fairhope-Foley) vs 95.1 (Bloomington)
- $100k in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley ≈ $100,416 purchasing power in Bloomington
- Rents drives the gap (-3.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:IN 94.7→95.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AL × IN
- 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.
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley
94.7
Cost Index
Bloomington
95.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL and Bloomington, IN 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.
Rents creates the largest separation: Bloomington is 3.6 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 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 Daphne-Fairhope-Foley corresponds to $100,416 in Bloomington.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Bloomington
- 94.3
Diff -2.1 RPP
Services
- Bloomington
- 86.5
Diff +3.2 RPP
Rents
- Bloomington
- 85.6
Diff -3.6 RPP
| Category | Daphne-Fairhope-Foley | Bloomington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 94.7 | 95.1 | +0.4 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 94.3 | -2.1 |
| Services | 83.3 | 86.5 | +3.2 |
| Rents | 89.2 | 85.6 | -3.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley 94.7
Bloomington 95.1
Goods
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley 96.4
Bloomington 94.3
Services
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley 83.3
Bloomington 86.5
Rents
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley 89.2
Bloomington 85.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley and Bloomington share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 1.0 to 0.4 RPP points. Bloomington remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 6.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (3.7 to 3.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Daphne-Fairhope-Foley RPP | Bloomington RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.3 | 94.3 | 1.0 points Daphne-Fairhope-Foley higher |
| 2012 | 95.9 | 94.2 | 1.7 points Daphne-Fairhope-Foley higher |
| 2016 | 94.8 | 95.4 | 0.6 points Bloomington higher |
| 2020 | 90.8 | 93.4 | 2.6 points Bloomington higher |
| 2024 | 94.7 | 95.1 | 0.4 points Bloomington 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 Daphne-Fairhope-Foley would need to be in Bloomington for the same purchasing power:
| In Daphne-Fairhope-Foley | In Bloomington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,208 | +$208 |
| $75,000 | $75,312 | +$312 |
| $100,000 | $100,416 | +$416 |
| $150,000 | $150,624 | +$624 |
$ in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley = in Bloomington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (94.7 → 95.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bloomington more expensive than Daphne-Fairhope-Foley?
Bloomington is 0.4% more expensive than Daphne-Fairhope-Foley. The overall cost index is 95.1 vs 94.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Bloomington equals $100K in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley?
A $100,000 salary in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley has the same purchasing power as $100,416 in Bloomington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Daphne-Fairhope-Foley and Bloomington?
Rents in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley are indexed at 89.2 while Bloomington is at 85.6 (national average = 100). Daphne-Fairhope-Foley 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.