Overall
- Jefferson City
- 88.0
- Mobile
- 88.1
Diff +0.1 RPP
Jefferson City vs Mobile
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Mobile is 0.1% more expensive than Jefferson City.
0.1% more expensive
Mobile, AL is 0.1% more expensive than Jefferson City, MO on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 88.1 vs 88.0). A $100,000 salary in Jefferson City buys about the same as $100,140 in Mobile; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 88.0 (Jefferson City) vs 88.1 (Mobile)
- $100k in Jefferson City ≈ $100,140 purchasing power in Mobile
- Goods drives the gap (+2.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MO:AL 88.0→88.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MO × 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.
Jefferson City
88.0
Cost Index
Mobile
88.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Jefferson City, MO and Mobile, 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.
Goods creates the largest separation: Mobile is 2.2 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 goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $100,140 in Mobile as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Jefferson City, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Jefferson City
- 94.2
- Mobile
- 96.4
Diff +2.2 RPP
Services
- Jefferson City
- 85.5
- Mobile
- 84.2
Diff -1.3 RPP
Rents
- Jefferson City
- 62.1
- Mobile
- 60.1
Diff -2.0 RPP
| Category | Jefferson City | Mobile | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 88.0 | 88.1 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 94.2 | 96.4 | +2.2 |
| Services | 85.5 | 84.2 | -1.3 |
| Rents | 62.1 | 60.1 | -2.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Jefferson City 88.0
Mobile 88.1
Goods
Jefferson City 94.2
Mobile 96.4
Services
Jefferson City 85.5
Mobile 84.2
Rents
Jefferson City 62.1
Mobile 60.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Jefferson City and Mobile share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 9.1 to 0.1 RPP points. Mobile remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 20.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (18.9 to 1.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Jefferson City RPP | Mobile RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 81.4 | 90.5 | 9.1 points Mobile higher |
| 2012 | 89.9 | 93.0 | 3.0 points Mobile higher |
| 2016 | 85.8 | 92.3 | 6.5 points Mobile higher |
| 2020 | 88.9 | 87.5 | 1.4 points Jefferson City higher |
| 2024 | 88.0 | 88.1 | 0.1 points Mobile 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 Jefferson City would need to be in Mobile for the same purchasing power:
| In Jefferson City | In Mobile | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,070 | +$70 |
| $75,000 | $75,105 | +$105 |
| $100,000 | $100,140 | +$140 |
| $150,000 | $150,210 | +$210 |
$ in Jefferson City = in Mobile
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.0 → 88.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Mobile more expensive than Jefferson City?
Mobile is 0.1% more expensive than Jefferson City. The overall cost index is 88.1 vs 88.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Mobile equals $100K in Jefferson City?
A $100,000 salary in Jefferson City has the same purchasing power as $100,140 in Mobile. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Jefferson City and Mobile?
Rents in Jefferson City are indexed at 62.1 while Mobile is at 60.1 (national average = 100). Jefferson City 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.