Overall
- Dothan
- 83.8
Diff +0.9 RPP
Dothan vs Shreveport-Bossier City
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Shreveport-Bossier City is 1.1% more expensive than Dothan.
1.1% more expensive
Shreveport-Bossier City, LA is 1.1% more expensive than Dothan, AL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 84.8 vs 83.8). A $100,000 salary in Dothan buys about the same as $101,113 in Shreveport-Bossier City; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 83.8 (Dothan) vs 84.8 (Shreveport-Bossier City)
- $100k in Dothan ≈ $101,113 purchasing power in Shreveport-Bossier City
- Services drives the gap (-11.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:LA 83.8→84.8
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
Shreveport-Bossier City
84.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Dothan, AL and Shreveport-Bossier City, LA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.9 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Shreveport-Bossier City is 11.8 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 $101,113 in Shreveport-Bossier City, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Dothan
- 96.4
Diff -2.7 RPP
Services
- Dothan
- 84.3
Diff -11.8 RPP
Rents
- Dothan
- 46.9
Diff +5.4 RPP
| Category | Dothan | Shreveport-Bossier City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 83.8 | 84.8 | +0.9 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 93.7 | -2.7 |
| Services | 84.3 | 72.6 | -11.8 |
| Rents | 46.9 | 52.3 | +5.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Dothan 83.8
Shreveport-Bossier City 84.8
Goods
Dothan 96.4
Shreveport-Bossier City 93.7
Services
Dothan 84.3
Shreveport-Bossier City 72.6
Rents
Dothan 46.9
Shreveport-Bossier City 52.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Dothan would need to be in Shreveport-Bossier City for the same purchasing power:
| In Dothan | In Shreveport-Bossier City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,556 | +$556 |
| $75,000 | $75,835 | +$835 |
| $100,000 | $101,113 | +$1,113 |
| $150,000 | $151,669 | +$1,669 |
$ in Dothan = in Shreveport-Bossier City
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (83.8 → 84.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Shreveport-Bossier City more expensive than Dothan?
Shreveport-Bossier City is 1.1% more expensive than Dothan. The overall cost index is 84.8 vs 83.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Shreveport-Bossier City equals $100K in Dothan?
A $100,000 salary in Dothan has the same purchasing power as $101,113 in Shreveport-Bossier City. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Dothan and Shreveport-Bossier City?
Rents in Dothan are indexed at 46.9 while Shreveport-Bossier City is at 52.3 (national average = 100). Shreveport-Bossier City 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.