Overall
Diff +25.5 RPP
Minot vs Napa
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Napa is 29.3% more expensive than Minot.
29.3% more expensive
Napa, CA is 29.3% more expensive than Minot, ND on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 112.6 vs 87.0). A $100,000 salary in Minot buys about the same as $129,331 in Napa; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 87.0 (Minot) vs 112.6 (Napa)
- $100k in Minot ≈ $129,331 purchasing power in Napa
- Rents drives the gap (+134.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ND:CA 87.0→112.6
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE ND × CA
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-STEEP Steep PP convert
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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Minot would need to be in Napa for the same purchasing power:
| In Minot | In Napa | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $64,665 | +$14,665 |
| $75,000 | $96,998 | +$21,998 |
| $100,000 | $129,331 | +$29,331 |
| $150,000 | $193,996 | +$43,996 |
$ in Minot = in Napa
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.0 → 112.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Minot, ND and Napa, CA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 25.5 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Napa is above 100 while Minot is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Napa 134.2 points higher than Minot. 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.
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 Minot corresponds to $129,331 in Napa.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +9.5 RPP
Services
Diff +83.6 RPP
Rents
Diff +134.2 RPP
| Category | Minot | Napa | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.0 | 112.6 | +25.5 |
| Goods | 95.7 | 105.2 | +9.5 |
| Services | 72.9 | 156.5 | +83.6 |
| Rents | 63.2 | 197.4 | +134.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Minot 87.0
Napa 112.6
Goods
Minot 95.7
Napa 105.2
Services
Minot 72.9
Napa 156.5
Rents
Minot 63.2
Napa 197.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
Minot
87.0
Cost Index
Napa
112.6
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Napa more expensive than Minot?
Napa is 29.3% more expensive than Minot. The overall cost index is 112.6 vs 87.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Napa equals $100K in Minot?
A $100,000 salary in Minot has the same purchasing power as $129,331 in Napa. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Minot and Napa?
Rents in Minot are indexed at 63.2 while Napa is at 197.4 (national average = 100). Napa 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.