Overall
- Grand Forks
- 86.7
- Minot
- 87.0
Diff +0.4 RPP
Grand Forks vs Minot
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Minot is 0.4% more expensive than Grand Forks.
0.4% more expensive
Minot, ND is 0.4% more expensive than Grand Forks, ND-MN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.0 vs 86.7). A $100,000 salary in Grand Forks buys about the same as $100,421 in Minot; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 86.7 (Grand Forks) vs 87.0 (Minot)
- $100k in Grand Forks ≈ $100,421 purchasing power in Minot
- Services drives the gap (-4.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ND:ND 86.7→87.0
PHOTO-FINISH · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- SAME-STATE Same state · ND
- 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
Minot
87.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Grand Forks, ND-MN and Minot, ND 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: Minot is 4.2 points lower. 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 $100,421 in Minot, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Grand Forks
- 95.6
- Minot
- 95.7
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
- Grand Forks
- 77.1
- Minot
- 72.9
Diff -4.2 RPP
Rents
- Grand Forks
- 59.7
- Minot
- 63.2
Diff +3.6 RPP
| Category | Grand Forks | Minot | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.7 | 87.0 | +0.4 |
| Goods | 95.6 | 95.7 | +0.1 |
| Services | 77.1 | 72.9 | -4.2 |
| Rents | 59.7 | 63.2 | +3.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Grand Forks 86.7
Minot 87.0
Goods
Grand Forks 95.6
Minot 95.7
Services
Grand Forks 77.1
Minot 72.9
Rents
Grand Forks 59.7
Minot 63.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Grand Forks and Minot share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 16.4 to 0.4 RPP points. Minot remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 28.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (25.1 to 3.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Grand Forks RPP | Minot RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.6 | 79.2 | 16.4 points Grand Forks higher |
| 2012 | 89.7 | 90.9 | 1.2 points Minot higher |
| 2016 | 92.2 | 89.6 | 2.5 points Grand Forks higher |
| 2020 | 91.2 | 92.5 | 1.3 points Minot higher |
| 2024 | 86.7 | 87.0 | 0.4 points Minot 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 Grand Forks would need to be in Minot for the same purchasing power:
| In Grand Forks | In Minot | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,211 | +$211 |
| $75,000 | $75,316 | +$316 |
| $100,000 | $100,421 | +$421 |
| $150,000 | $150,632 | +$632 |
$ in Grand Forks = in Minot
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.7 → 87.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Minot more expensive than Grand Forks?
Minot is 0.4% more expensive than Grand Forks. The overall cost index is 87.0 vs 86.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Minot equals $100K in Grand Forks?
A $100,000 salary in Grand Forks has the same purchasing power as $100,421 in Minot. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Grand Forks and Minot?
Rents in Grand Forks are indexed at 59.7 while Minot is at 63.2 (national average = 100). Minot 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.