Overall
Diff +0.5 RPP
Duluth vs Columbus
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Columbus is 0.6% more expensive than Duluth.
0.6% more expensive
Columbus, GA-AL is 0.6% more expensive than Duluth, MN-WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 89.3 vs 88.8). A $100,000 salary in Duluth buys about the same as $100,595 in Columbus; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 88.8 (Duluth) vs 89.3 (Columbus)
- $100k in Duluth ≈ $100,595 purchasing power in Columbus
- Rents drives the gap (-10.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MN:GA 88.8→89.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MN × GA
- 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.
Duluth
88.8
Cost Index
Columbus
89.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Duluth, MN-WI and Columbus, GA-AL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Columbus is 10.0 points lower. But 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 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 Duluth corresponds to $100,595 in Columbus.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +1.0 RPP
Services
Diff +2.4 RPP
Rents
Diff -10.0 RPP
| Category | Duluth | Columbus | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 88.8 | 89.3 | +0.5 |
| Goods | 95.3 | 96.3 | +1.0 |
| Services | 87.3 | 89.7 | +2.4 |
| Rents | 71.1 | 61.2 | -10.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Duluth 88.8
Columbus 89.3
Goods
Duluth 95.3
Columbus 96.3
Services
Duluth 87.3
Columbus 89.7
Rents
Duluth 71.1
Columbus 61.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Duluth and Columbus share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 0.8 to 0.5 RPP points. Columbus remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 10.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (0.0 to 10.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Duluth RPP | Columbus RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 89.2 | 88.4 | 0.8 points Duluth higher |
| 2012 | 90.8 | 90.1 | 0.6 points Duluth higher |
| 2016 | 88.3 | 90.5 | 2.2 points Columbus higher |
| 2020 | 83.1 | 86.3 | 3.2 points Columbus higher |
| 2024 | 88.8 | 89.3 | 0.5 points Columbus higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Duluth would need to be in Columbus for the same purchasing power:
| In Duluth | In Columbus | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,297 | +$297 |
| $75,000 | $75,446 | +$446 |
| $100,000 | $100,595 | +$595 |
| $150,000 | $150,892 | +$892 |
$ in Duluth = in Columbus
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.8 → 89.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Columbus more expensive than Duluth?
Columbus is 0.6% more expensive than Duluth. The overall cost index is 89.3 vs 88.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Columbus equals $100K in Duluth?
A $100,000 salary in Duluth has the same purchasing power as $100,595 in Columbus. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Duluth and Columbus?
Rents in Duluth are indexed at 71.1 while Columbus is at 61.2 (national average = 100). Duluth 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.