Overall
- Grand Forks
- 86.7
- Cape Girardeau
- 86.1
Diff -0.6 RPP
Grand Forks vs Cape Girardeau
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Cape Girardeau is 0.7% less expensive than Grand Forks.
0.7% less expensive
Cape Girardeau, MO-IL is 0.7% less expensive than Grand Forks, ND-MN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 86.1 vs 86.7). A $100,000 salary in Grand Forks buys about the same as $99,325 in Cape Girardeau; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 86.7 (Grand Forks) vs 86.1 (Cape Girardeau)
- $100k in Grand Forks ≈ $99,325 purchasing power in Cape Girardeau
- Services drives the gap (+8.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ND:MO 86.7→86.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE ND × 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.
Grand Forks
86.7
Cost Index
Cape Girardeau
86.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Grand Forks, ND-MN and Cape Girardeau, MO-IL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.6 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Cape Girardeau is 8.5 points higher. But 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Grand Forks to $99,325 in Cape Girardeau, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Grand Forks
- 95.6
- Cape Girardeau
- 94.2
Diff -1.4 RPP
Services
- Grand Forks
- 77.1
- Cape Girardeau
- 85.6
Diff +8.5 RPP
Rents
- Grand Forks
- 59.7
- Cape Girardeau
- 56.4
Diff -3.2 RPP
| Category | Grand Forks | Cape Girardeau | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.7 | 86.1 | -0.6 |
| Goods | 95.6 | 94.2 | -1.4 |
| Services | 77.1 | 85.6 | +8.5 |
| Rents | 59.7 | 56.4 | -3.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Grand Forks 86.7
Cape Girardeau 86.1
Goods
Grand Forks 95.6
Cape Girardeau 94.2
Services
Grand Forks 77.1
Cape Girardeau 85.6
Rents
Grand Forks 59.7
Cape Girardeau 56.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Grand Forks would need to be in Cape Girardeau for the same purchasing power:
| In Grand Forks | In Cape Girardeau | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,662 | $-338 |
| $75,000 | $74,494 | $-506 |
| $100,000 | $99,325 | $-675 |
| $150,000 | $148,987 | $-1,013 |
$ in Grand Forks = in Cape Girardeau
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.7 → 86.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cape Girardeau more expensive than Grand Forks?
Cape Girardeau is 0.7% less expensive than Grand Forks. The overall cost index is 86.1 vs 86.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Cape Girardeau equals $100K in Grand Forks?
A $100,000 salary in Grand Forks has the same purchasing power as $99,325 in Cape Girardeau. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Grand Forks and Cape Girardeau?
Rents in Grand Forks are indexed at 59.7 while Cape Girardeau is at 56.4 (national average = 100). Grand Forks 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.