Overall
- Grand Island
- 86.7
- St. Joseph
- 86.4
Diff -0.3 RPP
Grand Island vs St. Joseph
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. St. Joseph is 0.3% less expensive than Grand Island.
0.3% less expensive
St. Joseph, MO-KS is 0.3% less expensive than Grand Island, NE on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 86.4 vs 86.7). A $100,000 salary in Grand Island buys about the same as $99,683 in St. Joseph; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 86.7 (Grand Island) vs 86.4 (St. Joseph)
- $100k in Grand Island ≈ $99,683 purchasing power in St. Joseph
- Services drives the gap (+14.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NE:MO 86.7→86.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NE × 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 Island
86.7
Cost Index
St. Joseph
86.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Grand Island, NE and St. Joseph, MO-KS are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: St. Joseph is 14.0 points higher. But services 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 Grand Island to $99,683 in St. Joseph, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Grand Island
- 94.1
- St. Joseph
- 94.2
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
- Grand Island
- 74.2
- St. Joseph
- 88.3
Diff +14.0 RPP
Rents
- Grand Island
- 61.7
- St. Joseph
- 55.4
Diff -6.4 RPP
| Category | Grand Island | St. Joseph | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.7 | 86.4 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 94.1 | 94.2 | +0.1 |
| Services | 74.2 | 88.3 | +14.0 |
| Rents | 61.7 | 55.4 | -6.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Grand Island 86.7
St. Joseph 86.4
Goods
Grand Island 94.1
St. Joseph 94.2
Services
Grand Island 74.2
St. Joseph 88.3
Rents
Grand Island 61.7
St. Joseph 55.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Grand Island would need to be in St. Joseph for the same purchasing power:
| In Grand Island | In St. Joseph | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,841 | $-159 |
| $75,000 | $74,762 | $-238 |
| $100,000 | $99,683 | $-317 |
| $150,000 | $149,524 | $-476 |
$ in Grand Island = in St. Joseph
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.7 → 86.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is St. Joseph more expensive than Grand Island?
St. Joseph is 0.3% less expensive than Grand Island. The overall cost index is 86.4 vs 86.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in St. Joseph equals $100K in Grand Island?
A $100,000 salary in Grand Island has the same purchasing power as $99,683 in St. Joseph. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Grand Island and St. Joseph?
Rents in Grand Island are indexed at 61.7 while St. Joseph is at 55.4 (national average = 100). Grand Island 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.