Overall
- Monroe
- 83.6
Diff -1.2 RPP
Florence-Muscle Shoals vs Monroe
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Monroe is 1.4% less expensive than Florence-Muscle Shoals.
1.4% less expensive
Monroe, LA is 1.4% less expensive than Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 83.6 vs 84.8). A $100,000 salary in Florence-Muscle Shoals buys about the same as $98,562 in Monroe; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 84.8 (Florence-Muscle Shoals) vs 83.6 (Monroe)
- $100k in Florence-Muscle Shoals ≈ $98,562 purchasing power in Monroe
- Services drives the gap (-13.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:LA 84.8→83.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AL × LA
- SERVICES-LED Services-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.
Florence-Muscle Shoals
84.8
Cost Index
Monroe
83.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL and Monroe, LA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with Monroe 13.6 points lower than Florence-Muscle Shoals. 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Florence-Muscle Shoals to $98,562 in Monroe, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Monroe
- 93.7
Diff -2.7 RPP
Services
- Monroe
- 72.2
Diff -13.6 RPP
Rents
- Monroe
- 42.8
Diff -4.9 RPP
| Category | Florence-Muscle Shoals | Monroe | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 84.8 | 83.6 | -1.2 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 93.7 | -2.7 |
| Services | 85.8 | 72.2 | -13.6 |
| Rents | 47.7 | 42.8 | -4.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Florence-Muscle Shoals 84.8
Monroe 83.6
Goods
Florence-Muscle Shoals 96.4
Monroe 93.7
Services
Florence-Muscle Shoals 85.8
Monroe 72.2
Rents
Florence-Muscle Shoals 47.7
Monroe 42.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Florence-Muscle Shoals would need to be in Monroe for the same purchasing power:
| In Florence-Muscle Shoals | In Monroe | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,281 | $-719 |
| $75,000 | $73,921 | $-1,079 |
| $100,000 | $98,562 | $-1,438 |
| $150,000 | $147,842 | $-2,158 |
$ in Florence-Muscle Shoals = in Monroe
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (84.8 → 83.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Monroe more expensive than Florence-Muscle Shoals?
Monroe is 1.4% less expensive than Florence-Muscle Shoals. The overall cost index is 83.6 vs 84.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Monroe equals $100K in Florence-Muscle Shoals?
A $100,000 salary in Florence-Muscle Shoals has the same purchasing power as $98,562 in Monroe. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Florence-Muscle Shoals and Monroe?
Rents in Florence-Muscle Shoals are indexed at 47.7 while Monroe is at 42.8 (national average = 100). Florence-Muscle Shoals 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.