Overall
- Decatur
- 87.2
- Hattiesburg
- 87.6
Diff +0.4 RPP
Decatur vs Hattiesburg
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Hattiesburg is 0.5% more expensive than Decatur.
0.5% more expensive
Hattiesburg, MS is 0.5% more expensive than Decatur, AL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.6 vs 87.2). A $100,000 salary in Decatur buys about the same as $100,483 in Hattiesburg; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.2 (Decatur) vs 87.6 (Hattiesburg)
- $100k in Decatur ≈ $100,483 purchasing power in Hattiesburg
- Services drives the gap (-7.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:MS 87.2→87.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AL × MS
- 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.
Decatur
87.2
Cost Index
Hattiesburg
87.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Decatur, AL and Hattiesburg, MS 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: Hattiesburg is 7.9 points lower. But services 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Decatur to $100,483 in Hattiesburg, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Decatur
- 96.4
- Hattiesburg
- 96.2
Diff -0.2 RPP
Services
- Decatur
- 84.7
- Hattiesburg
- 76.9
Diff -7.9 RPP
Rents
- Decatur
- 58.1
- Hattiesburg
- 60.1
Diff +2.0 RPP
| Category | Decatur | Hattiesburg | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.2 | 87.6 | +0.4 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 96.2 | -0.2 |
| Services | 84.7 | 76.9 | -7.9 |
| Rents | 58.1 | 60.1 | +2.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Decatur 87.2
Hattiesburg 87.6
Goods
Decatur 96.4
Hattiesburg 96.2
Services
Decatur 84.7
Hattiesburg 76.9
Rents
Decatur 58.1
Hattiesburg 60.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Decatur would need to be in Hattiesburg for the same purchasing power:
| In Decatur | In Hattiesburg | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,241 | +$241 |
| $75,000 | $75,362 | +$362 |
| $100,000 | $100,483 | +$483 |
| $150,000 | $150,724 | +$724 |
$ in Decatur = in Hattiesburg
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.2 → 87.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hattiesburg more expensive than Decatur?
Hattiesburg is 0.5% more expensive than Decatur. The overall cost index is 87.6 vs 87.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Hattiesburg equals $100K in Decatur?
A $100,000 salary in Decatur has the same purchasing power as $100,483 in Hattiesburg. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Decatur and Hattiesburg?
Rents in Decatur are indexed at 58.1 while Hattiesburg is at 60.1 (national average = 100). Hattiesburg 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.