Overall
- Kalamazoo-Portage
- 94.8
- St. Louis
- 95.1
Diff +0.2 RPP
Kalamazoo-Portage vs St. Louis
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. St. Louis is 0.3% more expensive than Kalamazoo-Portage.
0.3% more expensive
St. Louis, MO-IL is 0.3% more expensive than Kalamazoo-Portage, MI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 95.1 vs 94.8). A $100,000 salary in Kalamazoo-Portage buys about the same as $100,261 in St. Louis; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 94.8 (Kalamazoo-Portage) vs 95.1 (St. Louis)
- $100k in Kalamazoo-Portage ≈ $100,261 purchasing power in St. Louis
- Services drives the gap (-29.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MI:MO 94.8→95.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MI × 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.
Kalamazoo-Portage
94.8
Cost Index
St. Louis
95.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Kalamazoo-Portage, MI and St. Louis, MO-IL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 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. Louis is 29.3 points lower. But services and 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 Kalamazoo-Portage to $100,261 in St. Louis, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Kalamazoo-Portage
- 93.7
- St. Louis
- 100.0
Diff +6.3 RPP
Services
- Kalamazoo-Portage
- 99.3
- St. Louis
- 69.9
Diff -29.3 RPP
Rents
- Kalamazoo-Portage
- 81.6
- St. Louis
- 79.0
Diff -2.6 RPP
| Category | Kalamazoo-Portage | St. Louis | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 94.8 | 95.1 | +0.2 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 100.0 | +6.3 |
| Services | 99.3 | 69.9 | -29.3 |
| Rents | 81.6 | 79.0 | -2.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Kalamazoo-Portage 94.8
St. Louis 95.1
Goods
Kalamazoo-Portage 93.7
St. Louis 100.0
Services
Kalamazoo-Portage 99.3
St. Louis 69.9
Rents
Kalamazoo-Portage 81.6
St. Louis 79.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Kalamazoo-Portage would need to be in St. Louis for the same purchasing power:
| In Kalamazoo-Portage | In St. Louis | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,131 | +$131 |
| $75,000 | $75,196 | +$196 |
| $100,000 | $100,261 | +$261 |
| $150,000 | $150,392 | +$392 |
$ in Kalamazoo-Portage = in St. Louis
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (94.8 → 95.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is St. Louis more expensive than Kalamazoo-Portage?
St. Louis is 0.3% more expensive than Kalamazoo-Portage. The overall cost index is 95.1 vs 94.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in St. Louis equals $100K in Kalamazoo-Portage?
A $100,000 salary in Kalamazoo-Portage has the same purchasing power as $100,261 in St. Louis. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Kalamazoo-Portage and St. Louis?
Rents in Kalamazoo-Portage are indexed at 81.6 while St. Louis is at 79.0 (national average = 100). Kalamazoo-Portage 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.