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Lima vs Columbia

Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Columbia is 0.3% less expensive than Lima.

0.3% less expensive

Columbia, MO is 0.3% less expensive than Lima, OH on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 89.4 vs 89.7). A $100,000 salary in Lima buys about the same as $99,742 in Columbia; the largest component gap is rents.

  • Overall RPP 89.7 (Lima) vs 89.4 (Columbia)
  • $100k in Lima ≈ $99,742 purchasing power in Columbia
  • Rents drives the gap (+12.0 RPP points)

RPP parity plate

Pair OH:MO 89.7→89.4

PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR

  • PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
  • CROSS-STATE OH × 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.

Lima
89.7
Cost Index
Columbia
89.4
Cost Index

What This Comparison Actually Tells You

Lima, OH and Columbia, MO 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.

Rents creates the largest separation: Columbia is 12.0 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 housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Lima corresponds to $99,742 in Columbia.

Category Breakdown

Visual Comparison

Overall
Lima
89.7
Columbia
89.4
Goods
Lima
93.6
Columbia
94.2
Services
Lima
95.8
Columbia
86.0
Rents
Lima
57.3
Columbia
69.2

Vertical line = national average (100)

Salary Equivalents

What a salary in Lima would need to be in Columbia for the same purchasing power:

In Lima In Columbia Difference
$50,000 $49,871 $-129
$75,000 $74,807 $-193
$100,000 $99,742 $-258
$150,000 $149,614 $-386
$ in Lima = – in Columbia

Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (89.7 → 89.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.

Reverse: Columbia → Lima Lima Details Columbia Details

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Columbia more expensive than Lima?

Columbia is 0.3% less expensive than Lima. The overall cost index is 89.4 vs 89.7 (national average = 100).

What salary in Columbia equals $100K in Lima?

A $100,000 salary in Lima has the same purchasing power as $99,742 in Columbia. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.

How do rents compare between Lima and Columbia?

Rents in Lima are indexed at 57.3 while Columbia is at 69.2 (national average = 100). Columbia has higher rents.

Data sources

Data sourced from official public datasets, Regional Price Parities (2024), index where national average = 100. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCost. See our methodology for details.

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.