Overall
Diff -1.6 RPP
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario vs Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington is 1.5% less expensive than Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario.
1.5% less expensive
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI is 1.5% less expensive than Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 104.8 vs 106.4). A $100,000 salary in Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario buys about the same as $98,478 in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 106.4 (Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario) vs 104.8 (Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington)
- $100k in Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario ≈ $98,478 purchasing power in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington
- Services drives the gap (-55.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:MN 106.4→104.8
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE CA × MN
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 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.
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario
106.4
Cost Index
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington
104.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA and Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.6 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington is 55.1 points lower. But 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 exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
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 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario to $98,478 in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +1.6 RPP
Services
Diff -55.1 RPP
Rents
Diff -17.5 RPP
| Category | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 106.4 | 104.8 | -1.6 |
| Goods | 101.4 | 103.1 | +1.6 |
| Services | 148.6 | 93.5 | -55.1 |
| Rents | 129.3 | 111.8 | -17.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario 106.4
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington 104.8
Goods
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario 101.4
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington 103.1
Services
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario 148.6
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington 93.5
Rents
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario 129.3
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington 111.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario would need to be in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington for the same purchasing power:
| In Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario | In Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,239 | $-761 |
| $75,000 | $73,859 | $-1,141 |
| $100,000 | $98,478 | $-1,522 |
| $150,000 | $147,717 | $-2,283 |
$ in Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario = in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (106.4 → 104.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington more expensive than Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario?
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington is 1.5% less expensive than Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario. The overall cost index is 104.8 vs 106.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington equals $100K in Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario?
A $100,000 salary in Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario has the same purchasing power as $98,478 in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario and Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington?
Rents in Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario are indexed at 129.3 while Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington is at 111.8 (national average = 100). Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario 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.