Overall
- Florence
- 86.8
- St. Joseph
- 86.4
Diff -0.4 RPP
Florence vs St. Joseph
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. St. Joseph is 0.5% less expensive than Florence.
0.5% less expensive
St. Joseph, MO-KS is 0.5% less expensive than Florence, SC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 86.4 vs 86.8). A $100,000 salary in Florence buys about the same as $99,548 in St. Joseph; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 86.8 (Florence) vs 86.4 (St. Joseph)
- $100k in Florence ≈ $99,548 purchasing power in St. Joseph
- Rents drives the gap (+2.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair SC:MO 86.8→86.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE SC × MO
- 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.
Florence
86.8
Cost Index
St. Joseph
86.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Florence, SC and St. Joseph, MO-KS 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.
Rents creates the largest separation: St. Joseph is 2.9 points higher. But rents and services 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 Florence corresponds to $99,548 in St. Joseph.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Florence
- 96.3
- St. Joseph
- 94.2
Diff -2.2 RPP
Services
- Florence
- 87.7
- St. Joseph
- 88.3
Diff +0.6 RPP
Rents
- Florence
- 52.4
- St. Joseph
- 55.4
Diff +2.9 RPP
| Category | Florence | St. Joseph | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.8 | 86.4 | -0.4 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 94.2 | -2.2 |
| Services | 87.7 | 88.3 | +0.6 |
| Rents | 52.4 | 55.4 | +2.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Florence 86.8
St. Joseph 86.4
Goods
Florence 96.3
St. Joseph 94.2
Services
Florence 87.7
St. Joseph 88.3
Rents
Florence 52.4
St. Joseph 55.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Florence and St. Joseph share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 8.1 to 0.4 RPP points. Florence remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 23.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (26.1 to 2.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Florence RPP | St. Joseph RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 84.5 | 92.6 | 8.1 points St. Joseph higher |
| 2012 | 89.6 | 91.0 | 1.3 points St. Joseph higher |
| 2016 | 89.5 | 88.7 | 0.8 points Florence higher |
| 2020 | 86.4 | 87.8 | 1.3 points St. Joseph higher |
| 2024 | 86.8 | 86.4 | 0.4 points Florence 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 Florence would need to be in St. Joseph for the same purchasing power:
| In Florence | In St. Joseph | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,774 | $-226 |
| $75,000 | $74,661 | $-339 |
| $100,000 | $99,548 | $-452 |
| $150,000 | $149,322 | $-678 |
$ in Florence = in St. Joseph
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.8 → 86.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is St. Joseph more expensive than Florence?
St. Joseph is 0.5% less expensive than Florence. The overall cost index is 86.4 vs 86.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in St. Joseph equals $100K in Florence?
A $100,000 salary in Florence has the same purchasing power as $99,548 in St. Joseph. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Florence and St. Joseph?
Rents in Florence are indexed at 52.4 while St. Joseph is at 55.4 (national average = 100). St. Joseph 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.