Overall
- Montgomery
- 89.7
- Lima
- 89.7
Diff -0.0 RPP
Montgomery vs Lima
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lima is 0% less expensive than Montgomery.
0% less expensive
Lima, OH is 0% less expensive than Montgomery, AL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 89.7 vs 89.7). A $100,000 salary in Montgomery buys about the same as $99,986 in Lima; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 89.7 (Montgomery) vs 89.7 (Lima)
- $100k in Montgomery ≈ $99,986 purchasing power in Lima
- Services drives the gap (+10.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:OH 89.7→89.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AL × OH
- 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.
Montgomery
89.7
Cost Index
Lima
89.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Montgomery, AL and Lima, OH are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.0 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Lima is 10.9 points higher. But services 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 Montgomery to $99,986 in Lima, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Montgomery
- 96.4
- Lima
- 93.6
Diff -2.8 RPP
Services
- Montgomery
- 84.9
- Lima
- 95.8
Diff +10.9 RPP
Rents
- Montgomery
- 64.3
- Lima
- 57.3
Diff -7.1 RPP
| Category | Montgomery | Lima | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 89.7 | 89.7 | -0.0 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 93.6 | -2.8 |
| Services | 84.9 | 95.8 | +10.9 |
| Rents | 64.3 | 57.3 | -7.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Montgomery 89.7
Lima 89.7
Goods
Montgomery 96.4
Lima 93.6
Services
Montgomery 84.9
Lima 95.8
Rents
Montgomery 64.3
Lima 57.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Montgomery and Lima share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 1.6 to 0.0 RPP points. Montgomery remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 5.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (2.0 to 7.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Montgomery RPP | Lima RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 91.3 | 92.9 | 1.6 points Lima higher |
| 2012 | 93.3 | 91.4 | 1.9 points Montgomery higher |
| 2016 | 93.1 | 88.5 | 4.6 points Montgomery higher |
| 2020 | 87.5 | 89.3 | 1.8 points Lima higher |
| 2024 | 89.7 | 89.7 | 0.0 points Montgomery 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 Montgomery would need to be in Lima for the same purchasing power:
| In Montgomery | In Lima | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,993 | $-7 |
| $75,000 | $74,989 | $-11 |
| $100,000 | $99,986 | $-14 |
| $150,000 | $149,978 | $-22 |
$ in Montgomery = in Lima
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (89.7 → 89.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Also Compare
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lima more expensive than Montgomery?
Lima is 0% less expensive than Montgomery. The overall cost index is 89.7 vs 89.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lima equals $100K in Montgomery?
A $100,000 salary in Montgomery has the same purchasing power as $99,986 in Lima. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Montgomery and Lima?
Rents in Montgomery are indexed at 64.3 while Lima is at 57.3 (national average = 100). Montgomery 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.