Overall
Diff -0.3 RPP
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington vs Baltimore-Columbia-Towson
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson is 0.3% less expensive than Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington.
0.3% less expensive
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD is 0.3% less expensive than Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 104.5 vs 104.8). A $100,000 salary in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington buys about the same as $99,680 in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 104.8 (Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington) vs 104.5 (Baltimore-Columbia-Towson)
- $100k in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington ≈ $99,680 purchasing power in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson
- Services drives the gap (+16.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MN:MD 104.8→104.5
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MN × MD
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 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.
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington
104.8
Cost Index
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson
104.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI and Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Baltimore-Columbia-Towson is 16.7 points higher. 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 exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
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 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington to $99,680 in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -0.7 RPP
Services
Diff +16.7 RPP
Rents
Diff +6.4 RPP
| Category | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 104.8 | 104.5 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 103.1 | 102.4 | -0.7 |
| Services | 93.5 | 110.2 | +16.7 |
| Rents | 111.8 | 118.2 | +6.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington 104.8
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 104.5
Goods
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington 103.1
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 102.4
Services
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington 93.5
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 110.2
Rents
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington 111.8
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 118.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington would need to be in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson for the same purchasing power:
| In Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington | In Baltimore-Columbia-Towson | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,840 | $-160 |
| $75,000 | $74,760 | $-240 |
| $100,000 | $99,680 | $-320 |
| $150,000 | $149,521 | $-479 |
$ in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington = in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (104.8 → 104.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Baltimore-Columbia-Towson more expensive than Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington?
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson is 0.3% less expensive than Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington. The overall cost index is 104.5 vs 104.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson equals $100K in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington?
A $100,000 salary in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington has the same purchasing power as $99,680 in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington and Baltimore-Columbia-Towson?
Rents in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington are indexed at 111.8 while Baltimore-Columbia-Towson is at 118.2 (national average = 100). Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 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.