Overall
- Jefferson City
- 88.0
- St. Cloud
- 87.6
Diff -0.3 RPP
Jefferson City vs St. Cloud
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. St. Cloud is 0.4% less expensive than Jefferson City.
0.4% less expensive
St. Cloud, MN is 0.4% less expensive than Jefferson City, MO on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.6 vs 88.0). A $100,000 salary in Jefferson City buys about the same as $99,610 in St. Cloud; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 88.0 (Jefferson City) vs 87.6 (St. Cloud)
- $100k in Jefferson City ≈ $99,610 purchasing power in St. Cloud
- Services drives the gap (+3.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MO:MN 88.0→87.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MO × MN
- 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
St. Cloud
87.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Jefferson City, MO and St. Cloud, MN 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. Cloud is 3.2 points higher. But services and rents 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 Jefferson City to $99,610 in St. Cloud, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Jefferson City
- 94.2
- St. Cloud
- 95.4
Diff +1.2 RPP
Services
- Jefferson City
- 85.5
- St. Cloud
- 88.7
Diff +3.2 RPP
Rents
- Jefferson City
- 62.1
- St. Cloud
- 65.1
Diff +2.9 RPP
| Category | Jefferson City | St. Cloud | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 88.0 | 87.6 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 94.2 | 95.4 | +1.2 |
| Services | 85.5 | 88.7 | +3.2 |
| Rents | 62.1 | 65.1 | +2.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Jefferson City 88.0
St. Cloud 87.6
Goods
Jefferson City 94.2
St. Cloud 95.4
Services
Jefferson City 85.5
St. Cloud 88.7
Rents
Jefferson City 62.1
St. Cloud 65.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Jefferson City would need to be in St. Cloud for the same purchasing power:
| In Jefferson City | In St. Cloud | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,805 | $-195 |
| $75,000 | $74,708 | $-292 |
| $100,000 | $99,610 | $-390 |
| $150,000 | $149,415 | $-585 |
$ in Jefferson City = in St. Cloud
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.0 → 87.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is St. Cloud more expensive than Jefferson City?
St. Cloud is 0.4% less expensive than Jefferson City. The overall cost index is 87.6 vs 88.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in St. Cloud equals $100K in Jefferson City?
A $100,000 salary in Jefferson City has the same purchasing power as $99,610 in St. Cloud. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Jefferson City and St. Cloud?
Rents in Jefferson City are indexed at 62.1 while St. Cloud is at 65.1 (national average = 100). St. Cloud 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.