Overall
- Mankato
- 91.0
Diff -0.4 RPP
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers vs Mankato
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Mankato is 0.4% less expensive than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers.
0.4% less expensive
Mankato, MN is 0.4% less expensive than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.0 vs 91.4). A $100,000 salary in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers buys about the same as $99,564 in Mankato; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 91.4 (Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers) vs 91.0 (Mankato)
- $100k in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers ≈ $99,564 purchasing power in Mankato
- Services drives the gap (+11.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AR:MN 91.4→91.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AR × 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.
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers
91.4
Cost Index
Mankato
91.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR and Mankato, 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.
Services creates the largest separation: Mankato is 11.9 points higher. But services and rents 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 Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers to $99,564 in Mankato, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Mankato
- 95.4
Diff +1.9 RPP
Services
- Mankato
- 87.0
Diff +11.9 RPP
Rents
- Mankato
- 79.9
Diff +3.0 RPP
| Category | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers | Mankato | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.4 | 91.0 | -0.4 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 95.4 | +1.9 |
| Services | 75.1 | 87.0 | +11.9 |
| Rents | 76.9 | 79.9 | +3.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 91.4
Mankato 91.0
Goods
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 93.6
Mankato 95.4
Services
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 75.1
Mankato 87.0
Rents
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 76.9
Mankato 79.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers would need to be in Mankato for the same purchasing power:
| In Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers | In Mankato | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,782 | $-218 |
| $75,000 | $74,673 | $-327 |
| $100,000 | $99,564 | $-436 |
| $150,000 | $149,346 | $-654 |
$ in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers = in Mankato
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.4 → 91.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Mankato more expensive than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers?
Mankato is 0.4% less expensive than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers. The overall cost index is 91.0 vs 91.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Mankato equals $100K in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers?
A $100,000 salary in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers has the same purchasing power as $99,564 in Mankato. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers and Mankato?
Rents in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers are indexed at 76.9 while Mankato is at 79.9 (national average = 100). Mankato 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.