Overall
- Paducah
- 86.1
- Anniston-Oxford
- 85.9
Diff -0.1 RPP
Paducah vs Anniston-Oxford
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Anniston-Oxford is 0.2% less expensive than Paducah.
0.2% less expensive
Anniston-Oxford, AL is 0.2% less expensive than Paducah, KY-IL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.9 vs 86.1). A $100,000 salary in Paducah buys about the same as $99,843 in Anniston-Oxford; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 86.1 (Paducah) vs 85.9 (Anniston-Oxford)
- $100k in Paducah ≈ $99,843 purchasing power in Anniston-Oxford
- Services drives the gap (+10.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair KY:AL 86.1→85.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE KY × AL
- 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.
Paducah
86.1
Cost Index
Anniston-Oxford
85.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Paducah, KY-IL and Anniston-Oxford, AL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Anniston-Oxford is 10.3 points higher. But services and 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Paducah to $99,843 in Anniston-Oxford, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Paducah
- 96.0
- Anniston-Oxford
- 96.4
Diff +0.4 RPP
Services
- Paducah
- 76.9
- Anniston-Oxford
- 87.1
Diff +10.3 RPP
Rents
- Paducah
- 48.8
- Anniston-Oxford
- 54.7
Diff +5.9 RPP
| Category | Paducah | Anniston-Oxford | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.1 | 85.9 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 96.0 | 96.4 | +0.4 |
| Services | 76.9 | 87.1 | +10.3 |
| Rents | 48.8 | 54.7 | +5.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Paducah 86.1
Anniston-Oxford 85.9
Goods
Paducah 96.0
Anniston-Oxford 96.4
Services
Paducah 76.9
Anniston-Oxford 87.1
Rents
Paducah 48.8
Anniston-Oxford 54.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Paducah would need to be in Anniston-Oxford for the same purchasing power:
| In Paducah | In Anniston-Oxford | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,922 | $-78 |
| $75,000 | $74,882 | $-118 |
| $100,000 | $99,843 | $-157 |
| $150,000 | $149,765 | $-235 |
$ in Paducah = in Anniston-Oxford
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.1 → 85.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Anniston-Oxford more expensive than Paducah?
Anniston-Oxford is 0.2% less expensive than Paducah. The overall cost index is 85.9 vs 86.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Anniston-Oxford equals $100K in Paducah?
A $100,000 salary in Paducah has the same purchasing power as $99,843 in Anniston-Oxford. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Paducah and Anniston-Oxford?
Rents in Paducah are indexed at 48.8 while Anniston-Oxford is at 54.7 (national average = 100). Anniston-Oxford 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.