Overall
- Minot
- 87.0
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 87.7
Diff +0.7 RPP
Minot vs Watertown-Fort Drum
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Watertown-Fort Drum is 0.8% more expensive than Minot.
0.8% more expensive
Watertown-Fort Drum, NY is 0.8% more expensive than Minot, ND on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.7 vs 87.0). A $100,000 salary in Minot buys about the same as $100,761 in Watertown-Fort Drum; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.0 (Minot) vs 87.7 (Watertown-Fort Drum)
- $100k in Minot ≈ $100,761 purchasing power in Watertown-Fort Drum
- Services drives the gap (+59.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ND:NY 87.0→87.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE ND × NY
- 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.
Minot
87.0
Cost Index
Watertown-Fort Drum
87.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Minot, ND and Watertown-Fort Drum, NY 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.
Services creates the largest separation: Watertown-Fort Drum is 59.3 points higher. But 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 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Minot to $100,761 in Watertown-Fort Drum, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Minot
- 95.7
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 99.7
Diff +4.0 RPP
Services
- Minot
- 72.9
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 132.2
Diff +59.3 RPP
Rents
- Minot
- 63.2
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 53.2
Diff -10.0 RPP
| Category | Minot | Watertown-Fort Drum | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.0 | 87.7 | +0.7 |
| Goods | 95.7 | 99.7 | +4.0 |
| Services | 72.9 | 132.2 | +59.3 |
| Rents | 63.2 | 53.2 | -10.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Minot 87.0
Watertown-Fort Drum 87.7
Goods
Minot 95.7
Watertown-Fort Drum 99.7
Services
Minot 72.9
Watertown-Fort Drum 132.2
Rents
Minot 63.2
Watertown-Fort Drum 53.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Minot would need to be in Watertown-Fort Drum for the same purchasing power:
| In Minot | In Watertown-Fort Drum | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,380 | +$380 |
| $75,000 | $75,571 | +$571 |
| $100,000 | $100,761 | +$761 |
| $150,000 | $151,141 | +$1,141 |
$ in Minot = in Watertown-Fort Drum
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.0 → 87.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Watertown-Fort Drum more expensive than Minot?
Watertown-Fort Drum is 0.8% more expensive than Minot. The overall cost index is 87.7 vs 87.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Watertown-Fort Drum equals $100K in Minot?
A $100,000 salary in Minot has the same purchasing power as $100,761 in Watertown-Fort Drum. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Minot and Watertown-Fort Drum?
Rents in Minot are indexed at 63.2 while Watertown-Fort Drum is at 53.2 (national average = 100). Minot 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.