Overall
- Dothan
- 83.8
Diff +1.3 RPP
Dothan vs Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux is 1.5% more expensive than Dothan.
1.5% more expensive
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA is 1.5% more expensive than Dothan, AL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.1 vs 83.8). A $100,000 salary in Dothan buys about the same as $101,515 in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 83.8 (Dothan) vs 85.1 (Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux)
- $100k in Dothan ≈ $101,515 purchasing power in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
- Services drives the gap (-13.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:LA 83.8→85.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AL × LA
- 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.
Dothan
83.8
Cost Index
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
85.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Dothan, AL and Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux is 13.0 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 Dothan to $101,515 in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Dothan
- 96.4
Diff -2.7 RPP
Services
- Dothan
- 84.3
Diff -13.0 RPP
Rents
- Dothan
- 46.9
Diff +4.4 RPP
| Category | Dothan | Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 83.8 | 85.1 | +1.3 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 93.7 | -2.7 |
| Services | 84.3 | 71.3 | -13.0 |
| Rents | 46.9 | 51.3 | +4.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Dothan 83.8
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 85.1
Goods
Dothan 96.4
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 93.7
Services
Dothan 84.3
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 71.3
Rents
Dothan 46.9
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 51.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Dothan would need to be in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux for the same purchasing power:
| In Dothan | In Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,757 | +$757 |
| $75,000 | $76,136 | +$1,136 |
| $100,000 | $101,515 | +$1,515 |
| $150,000 | $152,272 | +$2,272 |
$ in Dothan = in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (83.8 → 85.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux more expensive than Dothan?
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux is 1.5% more expensive than Dothan. The overall cost index is 85.1 vs 83.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux equals $100K in Dothan?
A $100,000 salary in Dothan has the same purchasing power as $101,515 in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Dothan and Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux?
Rents in Dothan are indexed at 46.9 while Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux is at 51.3 (national average = 100). Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 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.