Overall
- St. Louis
- 95.1
Diff +0.4 RPP
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley vs St. Louis
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. St. Louis is 0.4% more expensive than Daphne-Fairhope-Foley.
0.4% more expensive
St. Louis, MO-IL 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 $100,420 in St. Louis; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 94.7 (Daphne-Fairhope-Foley) vs 95.1 (St. Louis)
- $100k in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley ≈ $100,420 purchasing power in St. Louis
- Services drives the gap (-13.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:MO 94.7→95.1
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.
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley
94.7
Cost Index
St. Louis
95.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL and St. Louis, MO-IL 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.
Services creates the largest separation: St. Louis is 13.4 points lower. But services and rents 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley to $100,420 in St. Louis, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- St. Louis
- 100.0
Diff +3.6 RPP
Services
- St. Louis
- 69.9
Diff -13.4 RPP
Rents
- St. Louis
- 79.0
Diff -10.1 RPP
| Category | Daphne-Fairhope-Foley | St. Louis | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 94.7 | 95.1 | +0.4 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 100.0 | +3.6 |
| Services | 83.3 | 69.9 | -13.4 |
| Rents | 89.2 | 79.0 | -10.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley 94.7
St. Louis 95.1
Goods
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley 96.4
St. Louis 100.0
Services
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley 83.3
St. Louis 69.9
Rents
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley 89.2
St. Louis 79.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley would need to be in St. Louis for the same purchasing power:
| In Daphne-Fairhope-Foley | In St. Louis | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,210 | +$210 |
| $75,000 | $75,315 | +$315 |
| $100,000 | $100,420 | +$420 |
| $150,000 | $150,630 | +$630 |
$ in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley = in St. Louis
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 St. Louis more expensive than Daphne-Fairhope-Foley?
St. Louis 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 St. Louis equals $100K in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley?
A $100,000 salary in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley has the same purchasing power as $100,420 in St. Louis. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Daphne-Fairhope-Foley and St. Louis?
Rents in Daphne-Fairhope-Foley are indexed at 89.2 while St. Louis is at 79.0 (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.