Overall
- Hattiesburg
- 87.6
- Tuscaloosa
- 87.7
Diff +0.1 RPP
Hattiesburg vs Tuscaloosa
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Tuscaloosa is 0.1% more expensive than Hattiesburg.
0.1% more expensive
Tuscaloosa, AL is 0.1% more expensive than Hattiesburg, MS on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.7 vs 87.6). A $100,000 salary in Hattiesburg buys about the same as $100,102 in Tuscaloosa; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.6 (Hattiesburg) vs 87.7 (Tuscaloosa)
- $100k in Hattiesburg ≈ $100,102 purchasing power in Tuscaloosa
- Services drives the gap (+7.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MS:AL 87.6→87.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MS × AL
- 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.
Hattiesburg
87.6
Cost Index
Tuscaloosa
87.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Hattiesburg, MS and Tuscaloosa, AL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Tuscaloosa is 7.5 points higher. But rents 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 Hattiesburg to $100,102 in Tuscaloosa, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Hattiesburg
- 96.2
- Tuscaloosa
- 96.4
Diff +0.2 RPP
Services
- Hattiesburg
- 76.9
- Tuscaloosa
- 84.4
Diff +7.5 RPP
Rents
- Hattiesburg
- 60.1
- Tuscaloosa
- 58.2
Diff -1.8 RPP
| Category | Hattiesburg | Tuscaloosa | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.6 | 87.7 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.4 | +0.2 |
| Services | 76.9 | 84.4 | +7.5 |
| Rents | 60.1 | 58.2 | -1.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Hattiesburg 87.6
Tuscaloosa 87.7
Goods
Hattiesburg 96.2
Tuscaloosa 96.4
Services
Hattiesburg 76.9
Tuscaloosa 84.4
Rents
Hattiesburg 60.1
Tuscaloosa 58.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Hattiesburg and Tuscaloosa share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.1 to 0.1 RPP points. Tuscaloosa remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 3.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (4.8 to 1.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Hattiesburg RPP | Tuscaloosa RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 89.9 | 89.7 | 0.1 points Hattiesburg higher |
| 2012 | 89.6 | 90.6 | 1.0 points Tuscaloosa higher |
| 2016 | 88.5 | 90.9 | 2.3 points Tuscaloosa higher |
| 2020 | 85.3 | 87.1 | 1.8 points Tuscaloosa higher |
| 2024 | 87.6 | 87.7 | 0.1 points Tuscaloosa 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 Hattiesburg would need to be in Tuscaloosa for the same purchasing power:
| In Hattiesburg | In Tuscaloosa | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,051 | +$51 |
| $75,000 | $75,076 | +$76 |
| $100,000 | $100,102 | +$102 |
| $150,000 | $150,152 | +$152 |
$ in Hattiesburg = in Tuscaloosa
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.6 → 87.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Tuscaloosa more expensive than Hattiesburg?
Tuscaloosa is 0.1% more expensive than Hattiesburg. The overall cost index is 87.7 vs 87.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Tuscaloosa equals $100K in Hattiesburg?
A $100,000 salary in Hattiesburg has the same purchasing power as $100,102 in Tuscaloosa. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Hattiesburg and Tuscaloosa?
Rents in Hattiesburg are indexed at 60.1 while Tuscaloosa is at 58.2 (national average = 100). Hattiesburg 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.