Overall
Diff +0.4 RPP
Decatur vs St. Cloud
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. St. Cloud is 0.5% more expensive than Decatur.
0.5% more expensive
St. Cloud, MN 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 $100,482 in St. Cloud; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 87.2 (Decatur) vs 87.6 (St. Cloud)
- $100k in Decatur ≈ $100,482 purchasing power in St. Cloud
- Rents drives the gap (+7.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:MN 87.2→87.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AL × MN
- 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
St. Cloud
87.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Decatur, AL and St. Cloud, MN 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: St. Cloud is 7.0 points higher. But 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 Decatur corresponds to $100,482 in St. Cloud.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -1.0 RPP
Services
Diff +3.9 RPP
Rents
Diff +7.0 RPP
| Category | Decatur | St. Cloud | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.2 | 87.6 | +0.4 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 95.4 | -1.0 |
| Services | 84.7 | 88.7 | +3.9 |
| Rents | 58.1 | 65.1 | +7.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Decatur 87.2
St. Cloud 87.6
Goods
Decatur 96.4
St. Cloud 95.4
Services
Decatur 84.7
St. Cloud 88.7
Rents
Decatur 58.1
St. Cloud 65.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Decatur would need to be in St. Cloud for the same purchasing power:
| In Decatur | In St. Cloud | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,241 | +$241 |
| $75,000 | $75,361 | +$361 |
| $100,000 | $100,482 | +$482 |
| $150,000 | $150,722 | +$722 |
$ in Decatur = in St. Cloud
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 St. Cloud more expensive than Decatur?
St. Cloud is 0.5% more expensive than Decatur. The overall cost index is 87.6 vs 87.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in St. Cloud equals $100K in Decatur?
A $100,000 salary in Decatur has the same purchasing power as $100,482 in St. Cloud. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Decatur and St. Cloud?
Rents in Decatur are indexed at 58.1 while St. Cloud is at 65.1 (national average = 100). St. Cloud 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.