Overall
- Johnson City
- 87.9
- Decatur
- 88.4
Diff +0.5 RPP
Johnson City vs Decatur
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Decatur is 0.6% more expensive than Johnson City.
0.6% more expensive
Decatur, IL is 0.6% more expensive than Johnson City, TN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 88.4 vs 87.9). A $100,000 salary in Johnson City buys about the same as $100,562 in Decatur; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.9 (Johnson City) vs 88.4 (Decatur)
- $100k in Johnson City ≈ $100,562 purchasing power in Decatur
- Services drives the gap (+19.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TN:IL 87.9→88.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TN × IL
- 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.
Johnson City
87.9
Cost Index
Decatur
88.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Johnson City, TN and Decatur, IL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Decatur is 19.2 points higher. But 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 Johnson City to $100,562 in Decatur, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Johnson City
- 96.2
- Decatur
- 93.6
Diff -2.6 RPP
Services
- Johnson City
- 71.9
- Decatur
- 91.1
Diff +19.2 RPP
Rents
- Johnson City
- 63.2
- Decatur
- 56.2
Diff -7.0 RPP
| Category | Johnson City | Decatur | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.9 | 88.4 | +0.5 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 93.6 | -2.6 |
| Services | 71.9 | 91.1 | +19.2 |
| Rents | 63.2 | 56.2 | -7.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Johnson City 87.9
Decatur 88.4
Goods
Johnson City 96.2
Decatur 93.6
Services
Johnson City 71.9
Decatur 91.1
Rents
Johnson City 63.2
Decatur 56.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Johnson City and Decatur share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 0.6 to 0.5 RPP points. Decatur remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 7.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (14.0 to 7.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Johnson City RPP | Decatur RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 91.6 | 91.0 | 0.6 points Johnson City higher |
| 2012 | 93.5 | 93.0 | 0.4 points Johnson City higher |
| 2016 | 91.6 | 88.9 | 2.7 points Johnson City higher |
| 2020 | 88.5 | 88.3 | 0.2 points Johnson City higher |
| 2024 | 87.9 | 88.4 | 0.5 points Decatur 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 Johnson City would need to be in Decatur for the same purchasing power:
| In Johnson City | In Decatur | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,281 | +$281 |
| $75,000 | $75,421 | +$421 |
| $100,000 | $100,562 | +$562 |
| $150,000 | $150,843 | +$843 |
$ in Johnson City = in Decatur
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.9 → 88.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Decatur more expensive than Johnson City?
Decatur is 0.6% more expensive than Johnson City. The overall cost index is 88.4 vs 87.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Decatur equals $100K in Johnson City?
A $100,000 salary in Johnson City has the same purchasing power as $100,562 in Decatur. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Johnson City and Decatur?
Rents in Johnson City are indexed at 63.2 while Decatur is at 56.2 (national average = 100). Johnson 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.