Overall
Diff +0.3 RPP
Mobile vs Beckley
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Beckley is 0.3% more expensive than Mobile.
0.3% more expensive
Beckley, WV is 0.3% more expensive than Mobile, AL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 88.4 vs 88.1). A $100,000 salary in Mobile buys about the same as $100,308 in Beckley; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 88.1 (Mobile) vs 88.4 (Beckley)
- $100k in Mobile ≈ $100,308 purchasing power in Beckley
- Rents drives the gap (-7.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:WV 88.1→88.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AL × WV
- 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.
Mobile
88.1
Cost Index
Beckley
88.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Mobile, AL and Beckley, WV 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.
Rents creates the largest separation: Beckley is 7.9 points lower. But rents and goods 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 Mobile corresponds to $100,308 in Beckley.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
Diff +7.6 RPP
Rents
Diff -7.9 RPP
| Category | Mobile | Beckley | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 88.1 | 88.4 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 96.3 | -0.1 |
| Services | 84.2 | 91.8 | +7.6 |
| Rents | 60.1 | 52.2 | -7.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Mobile 88.1
Beckley 88.4
Goods
Mobile 96.4
Beckley 96.3
Services
Mobile 84.2
Beckley 91.8
Rents
Mobile 60.1
Beckley 52.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Mobile and Beckley share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 7.0 to 0.3 RPP points. Beckley remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 34.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (27.2 to 7.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Mobile RPP | Beckley RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 90.5 | 83.5 | 7.0 points Mobile higher |
| 2012 | 93.0 | 83.6 | 9.4 points Mobile higher |
| 2016 | 92.3 | 83.3 | 9.0 points Mobile higher |
| 2020 | 87.5 | 83.4 | 4.1 points Mobile higher |
| 2024 | 88.1 | 88.4 | 0.3 points Beckley 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 Mobile would need to be in Beckley for the same purchasing power:
| In Mobile | In Beckley | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,154 | +$154 |
| $75,000 | $75,231 | +$231 |
| $100,000 | $100,308 | +$308 |
| $150,000 | $150,461 | +$461 |
$ in Mobile = in Beckley
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.1 → 88.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Beckley more expensive than Mobile?
Beckley is 0.3% more expensive than Mobile. The overall cost index is 88.4 vs 88.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Beckley equals $100K in Mobile?
A $100,000 salary in Mobile has the same purchasing power as $100,308 in Beckley. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Mobile and Beckley?
Rents in Mobile are indexed at 60.1 while Beckley is at 52.2 (national average = 100). Mobile 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.