PlainCost
Home / Compare /

Fargo vs Baton Rouge

Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Baton Rouge is 0.1% less expensive than Fargo.

0.1% less expensive

Baton Rouge, LA is 0.1% less expensive than Fargo, ND-MN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 90.8 vs 90.9). A $100,000 salary in Fargo buys about the same as $99,900 in Baton Rouge; the largest component gap is rents.

  • Overall RPP 90.9 (Fargo) vs 90.8 (Baton Rouge)
  • $100k in Fargo ≈ $99,900 purchasing power in Baton Rouge
  • Rents drives the gap (-7.0 RPP points)

RPP parity plate

Pair ND:LA 90.9→90.8

PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR

  • PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
  • CROSS-STATE ND × LA
  • RENT-LED Rent-led gap
  • 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.

Fargo
90.9
Cost Index
Baton Rouge
90.8
Cost Index

What This Comparison Actually Tells You

Fargo, ND-MN and Baton Rouge, LA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.

Rents leads the difference, with Baton Rouge 7.0 points lower than Fargo. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.

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 Fargo corresponds to $99,900 in Baton Rouge.

Category Breakdown

Visual Comparison

Overall
Fargo
90.9
Baton Rouge
90.8
Goods
Fargo
95.7
Baton Rouge
93.7
Services
Fargo
77.3
Baton Rouge
71.2
Rents
Fargo
81.1
Baton Rouge
74.2

Vertical line = national average (100)

Salary Equivalents

What a salary in Fargo would need to be in Baton Rouge for the same purchasing power:

In Fargo In Baton Rouge Difference
$50,000 $49,950 $-50
$75,000 $74,925 $-75
$100,000 $99,900 $-100
$150,000 $149,850 $-150
$ in Fargo = – in Baton Rouge

Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (90.9 → 90.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.

Reverse: Baton Rouge → Fargo Fargo Details Baton Rouge Details

Also Compare

vs Saginaw vs Rochester vs Clarksville vs Erie vs College Station-Bryan vs Mankato vs Sioux Falls

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Baton Rouge more expensive than Fargo?

Baton Rouge is 0.1% less expensive than Fargo. The overall cost index is 90.8 vs 90.9 (national average = 100).

What salary in Baton Rouge equals $100K in Fargo?

A $100,000 salary in Fargo has the same purchasing power as $99,900 in Baton Rouge. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.

How do rents compare between Fargo and Baton Rouge?

Rents in Fargo are indexed at 81.1 while Baton Rouge is at 74.2 (national average = 100). Fargo has higher rents.

Data sources

Data sourced from official public datasets, Regional Price Parities (2024), index where national average = 100. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCost. See our methodology for details.

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.