Overall
- St. Cloud
- 87.6
- Terre Haute
- 87.8
Diff +0.2 RPP
St. Cloud vs Terre Haute
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Terre Haute is 0.2% more expensive than St. Cloud.
0.2% more expensive
Terre Haute, IN is 0.2% more expensive than St. Cloud, MN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.8 vs 87.6). A $100,000 salary in St. Cloud buys about the same as $100,188 in Terre Haute; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 87.6 (St. Cloud) vs 87.8 (Terre Haute)
- $100k in St. Cloud ≈ $100,188 purchasing power in Terre Haute
- Rents drives the gap (-13.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MN:IN 87.6→87.8
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MN × IN
- 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.
St. Cloud
87.6
Cost Index
Terre Haute
87.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
St. Cloud, MN and Terre Haute, IN 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.
Rents creates the largest separation: Terre Haute is 13.1 points lower. But rents and services 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 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 St. Cloud corresponds to $100,188 in Terre Haute.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- St. Cloud
- 95.4
- Terre Haute
- 94.3
Diff -1.1 RPP
Services
- St. Cloud
- 88.7
- Terre Haute
- 86.6
Diff -2.1 RPP
Rents
- St. Cloud
- 65.1
- Terre Haute
- 51.9
Diff -13.1 RPP
| Category | St. Cloud | Terre Haute | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.6 | 87.8 | +0.2 |
| Goods | 95.4 | 94.3 | -1.1 |
| Services | 88.7 | 86.6 | -2.1 |
| Rents | 65.1 | 51.9 | -13.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
St. Cloud 87.6
Terre Haute 87.8
Goods
St. Cloud 95.4
Terre Haute 94.3
Services
St. Cloud 88.7
Terre Haute 86.6
Rents
St. Cloud 65.1
Terre Haute 51.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
St. Cloud and Terre Haute share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 8.2 to 0.2 RPP points. Terre Haute remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 15.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (28.8 to 13.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | St. Cloud RPP | Terre Haute RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.3 | 89.1 | 8.2 points St. Cloud higher |
| 2012 | 95.2 | 89.2 | 6.0 points St. Cloud higher |
| 2016 | 93.7 | 87.6 | 6.0 points St. Cloud higher |
| 2020 | 91.5 | 87.4 | 4.1 points St. Cloud higher |
| 2024 | 87.6 | 87.8 | 0.2 points Terre Haute 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 St. Cloud would need to be in Terre Haute for the same purchasing power:
| In St. Cloud | In Terre Haute | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,094 | +$94 |
| $75,000 | $75,141 | +$141 |
| $100,000 | $100,188 | +$188 |
| $150,000 | $150,282 | +$282 |
$ in St. Cloud = in Terre Haute
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.6 → 87.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Terre Haute more expensive than St. Cloud?
Terre Haute is 0.2% more expensive than St. Cloud. The overall cost index is 87.8 vs 87.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Terre Haute equals $100K in St. Cloud?
A $100,000 salary in St. Cloud has the same purchasing power as $100,188 in Terre Haute. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between St. Cloud and Terre Haute?
Rents in St. Cloud are indexed at 65.1 while Terre Haute is at 51.9 (national average = 100). St. Cloud 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.