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Manhattan vs Montgomery

Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Montgomery is 0.5% less expensive than Manhattan.

0.5% less expensive

Montgomery, AL is 0.5% less expensive than Manhattan, KS on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 89.7 vs 90.2). A $100,000 salary in Manhattan buys about the same as $99,468 in Montgomery; the largest component gap is rents.

  • Overall RPP 90.2 (Manhattan) vs 89.7 (Montgomery)
  • $100k in Manhattan ≈ $99,468 purchasing power in Montgomery
  • Rents drives the gap (-7.6 RPP points)

RPP parity plate

Pair KS:AL 90.2→89.7

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

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

Manhattan
90.2
Cost Index
Montgomery
89.7
Cost Index

What This Comparison Actually Tells You

Manhattan, KS and Montgomery, AL 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.

Rents creates the largest separation: Montgomery is 7.6 points lower. But 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 Manhattan corresponds to $99,468 in Montgomery.

Category Breakdown

Visual Comparison

Overall
Manhattan
90.2
Montgomery
89.7
Goods
Manhattan
94.0
Montgomery
96.4
Services
Manhattan
88.4
Montgomery
84.9
Rents
Manhattan
72.0
Montgomery
64.3

Vertical line = national average (100)

Salary Equivalents

What a salary in Manhattan would need to be in Montgomery for the same purchasing power:

In Manhattan In Montgomery Difference
$50,000 $49,734 $-266
$75,000 $74,601 $-399
$100,000 $99,468 $-532
$150,000 $149,201 $-799
$ in Manhattan = – in Montgomery

Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (90.2 → 89.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.

Reverse: Montgomery → Manhattan Manhattan Details Montgomery Details

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Montgomery more expensive than Manhattan?

Montgomery is 0.5% less expensive than Manhattan. The overall cost index is 89.7 vs 90.2 (national average = 100).

What salary in Montgomery equals $100K in Manhattan?

A $100,000 salary in Manhattan has the same purchasing power as $99,468 in Montgomery. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.

How do rents compare between Manhattan and Montgomery?

Rents in Manhattan are indexed at 72.0 while Montgomery is at 64.3 (national average = 100). Manhattan 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.