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Mankato vs Lawrence

Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lawrence is 0.8% less expensive than Mankato.

0.8% less expensive

Lawrence, KS is 0.8% less expensive than Mankato, MN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 90.2 vs 91.0). A $100,000 salary in Mankato buys about the same as $99,217 in Lawrence; the largest component gap is rents.

  • Overall RPP 91.0 (Mankato) vs 90.2 (Lawrence)
  • $100k in Mankato ≈ $99,217 purchasing power in Lawrence
  • Rents drives the gap (-8.2 RPP points)

RPP parity plate

Pair MN:KS 91.0→90.2

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

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

Mankato
91.0
Cost Index
Lawrence
90.2
Cost Index

What This Comparison Actually Tells You

Mankato, MN and Lawrence, KS are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.7 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.

Rents creates the largest separation: Lawrence is 8.2 points lower. But services 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 Mankato corresponds to $99,217 in Lawrence.

Category Breakdown

Visual Comparison

Overall
Mankato
91.0
Lawrence
90.2
Goods
Mankato
95.4
Lawrence
94.0
Services
Mankato
87.0
Lawrence
89.3
Rents
Mankato
79.9
Lawrence
71.6

Vertical line = national average (100)

Salary Equivalents

What a salary in Mankato would need to be in Lawrence for the same purchasing power:

In Mankato In Lawrence Difference
$50,000 $49,609 $-391
$75,000 $74,413 $-587
$100,000 $99,217 $-783
$150,000 $148,826 $-1,174
$ in Mankato = – in Lawrence

Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.0 → 90.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.

Reverse: Lawrence → Mankato Mankato Details Lawrence Details

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Lawrence more expensive than Mankato?

Lawrence is 0.8% less expensive than Mankato. The overall cost index is 90.2 vs 91.0 (national average = 100).

What salary in Lawrence equals $100K in Mankato?

A $100,000 salary in Mankato has the same purchasing power as $99,217 in Lawrence. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.

How do rents compare between Mankato and Lawrence?

Rents in Mankato are indexed at 79.9 while Lawrence is at 71.6 (national average = 100). Mankato 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.