Overall
Diff -0.6 RPP
Mankato vs Abilene
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Abilene is 0.6% less expensive than Mankato.
0.6% less expensive
Abilene, TX is 0.6% less expensive than Mankato, MN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 90.4 vs 91.0). A $100,000 salary in Mankato buys about the same as $99,350 in Abilene; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 91.0 (Mankato) vs 90.4 (Abilene)
- $100k in Mankato ≈ $99,350 purchasing power in Abilene
- Rents drives the gap (-6.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MN:TX 91.0→90.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MN × TX
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- 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.
Mankato
91.0
Cost Index
Abilene
90.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Mankato, MN and Abilene, TX are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.6 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents leads the difference, with Abilene 6.1 points lower than Mankato. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
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 Mankato corresponds to $99,350 in Abilene.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -1.7 RPP
Services
Diff -5.9 RPP
Rents
Diff -6.1 RPP
| Category | Mankato | Abilene | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.0 | 90.4 | -0.6 |
| Goods | 95.4 | 93.8 | -1.7 |
| Services | 87.0 | 81.2 | -5.9 |
| Rents | 79.9 | 73.8 | -6.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Mankato 91.0
Abilene 90.4
Goods
Mankato 95.4
Abilene 93.8
Services
Mankato 87.0
Abilene 81.2
Rents
Mankato 79.9
Abilene 73.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Mankato and Abilene share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 7.1 to 0.6 RPP points. Mankato remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 24.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (19.0 to 5.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Mankato RPP | Abilene RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 85.1 | 92.2 | 7.1 points Abilene higher |
| 2012 | 94.5 | 94.1 | 0.4 points Mankato higher |
| 2016 | 88.6 | 93.3 | 4.7 points Abilene higher |
| 2020 | 91.2 | 90.3 | 0.9 points Mankato higher |
| 2024 | 91.0 | 90.4 | 0.6 points Mankato 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 Mankato would need to be in Abilene for the same purchasing power:
| In Mankato | In Abilene | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,675 | $-325 |
| $75,000 | $74,513 | $-487 |
| $100,000 | $99,350 | $-650 |
| $150,000 | $149,025 | $-975 |
$ in Mankato = in Abilene
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.0 → 90.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Abilene more expensive than Mankato?
Abilene is 0.6% less expensive than Mankato. The overall cost index is 90.4 vs 91.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Abilene equals $100K in Mankato?
A $100,000 salary in Mankato has the same purchasing power as $99,350 in Abilene. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Mankato and Abilene?
Rents in Mankato are indexed at 79.9 while Abilene is at 73.8 (national average = 100). Mankato 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.