Overall
- St. Louis
- 95.1
Diff +0.4 RPP
San Antonio-New Braunfels vs St. Louis
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. St. Louis is 0.4% more expensive than San Antonio-New Braunfels.
0.4% more expensive
St. Louis, MO-IL is 0.4% more expensive than San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 95.1 vs 94.7). A $100,000 salary in San Antonio-New Braunfels buys about the same as $100,393 in St. Louis; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 94.7 (San Antonio-New Braunfels) vs 95.1 (St. Louis)
- $100k in San Antonio-New Braunfels ≈ $100,393 purchasing power in St. Louis
- Rents drives the gap (-15.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:MO 94.7→95.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × MO
- 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.
San Antonio-New Braunfels
94.7
Cost Index
St. Louis
95.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX and St. Louis, MO-IL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: St. Louis is 15.6 points lower. But rents and 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 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 San Antonio-New Braunfels corresponds to $100,393 in St. Louis.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- St. Louis
- 100.0
Diff +6.2 RPP
Services
- St. Louis
- 69.9
Diff -12.2 RPP
Rents
- St. Louis
- 79.0
Diff -15.6 RPP
| Category | San Antonio-New Braunfels | St. Louis | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 94.7 | 95.1 | +0.4 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 100.0 | +6.2 |
| Services | 82.2 | 69.9 | -12.2 |
| Rents | 94.6 | 79.0 | -15.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
San Antonio-New Braunfels 94.7
St. Louis 95.1
Goods
San Antonio-New Braunfels 93.8
St. Louis 100.0
Services
San Antonio-New Braunfels 82.2
St. Louis 69.9
Rents
San Antonio-New Braunfels 94.6
St. Louis 79.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
San Antonio-New Braunfels and St. Louis share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 5.1 to 0.4 RPP points. St. Louis remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 14.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (8.1 to 6.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | San Antonio-New Braunfels RPP | St. Louis RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 96.1 | 91.0 | 5.1 points San Antonio-New Braunfels higher |
| 2012 | 97.4 | 94.5 | 2.9 points San Antonio-New Braunfels higher |
| 2016 | 98.3 | 94.5 | 3.7 points San Antonio-New Braunfels higher |
| 2020 | 96.8 | 95.2 | 1.6 points San Antonio-New Braunfels higher |
| 2024 | 94.7 | 95.1 | 0.4 points St. Louis 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 San Antonio-New Braunfels would need to be in St. Louis for the same purchasing power:
| In San Antonio-New Braunfels | In St. Louis | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,196 | +$196 |
| $75,000 | $75,295 | +$295 |
| $100,000 | $100,393 | +$393 |
| $150,000 | $150,589 | +$589 |
$ in San Antonio-New Braunfels = in St. Louis
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (94.7 → 95.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is St. Louis more expensive than San Antonio-New Braunfels?
St. Louis is 0.4% more expensive than San Antonio-New Braunfels. The overall cost index is 95.1 vs 94.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in St. Louis equals $100K in San Antonio-New Braunfels?
A $100,000 salary in San Antonio-New Braunfels has the same purchasing power as $100,393 in St. Louis. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between San Antonio-New Braunfels and St. Louis?
Rents in San Antonio-New Braunfels are indexed at 94.6 while St. Louis is at 79.0 (national average = 100). San Antonio-New Braunfels 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.