Overall
Diff +0.2 RPP
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Dothan is 0.3% more expensive than Monroe.
Dothan, AL is 0.3% more expensive than Monroe, LA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 83.8 vs 83.6). A $100,000 salary in Monroe buys about the same as $100,282 in Dothan; the largest component gap is services.
RPP parity plate
Pair LA:AL 83.6→83.8
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-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.
Monroe, LA and Dothan, AL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with Dothan 12.1 points higher than Monroe. 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.
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 Monroe to $100,282 in Dothan, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Diff +0.2 RPP
Diff +2.7 RPP
Diff +12.1 RPP
Diff +4.1 RPP
| Category | Monroe | Dothan | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 83.6 | 83.8 | +0.2 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 96.4 | +2.7 |
| Services | 72.2 | 84.3 | +12.1 |
| Rents | 42.8 | 46.9 | +4.1 |
Vertical line = national average (100)
What a salary in Monroe would need to be in Dothan for the same purchasing power:
| In Monroe | In Dothan | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,141 | +$141 |
| $75,000 | $75,212 | +$212 |
| $100,000 | $100,282 | +$282 |
| $150,000 | $150,423 | +$423 |
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (83.6 → 83.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Dothan is 0.3% more expensive than Monroe. The overall cost index is 83.8 vs 83.6 (national average = 100).
A $100,000 salary in Monroe has the same purchasing power as $100,282 in Dothan. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
Rents in Monroe are indexed at 42.8 while Dothan is at 46.9 (national average = 100). Dothan has higher rents.
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.