Overall
- St. Joseph
- 86.4
- Anniston-Oxford
- 85.9
Diff -0.4 RPP
St. Joseph vs Anniston-Oxford
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Anniston-Oxford is 0.5% less expensive than St. Joseph.
0.5% less expensive
Anniston-Oxford, AL is 0.5% less expensive than St. Joseph, MO-KS on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.9 vs 86.4). A $100,000 salary in St. Joseph buys about the same as $99,499 in Anniston-Oxford; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 86.4 (St. Joseph) vs 85.9 (Anniston-Oxford)
- $100k in St. Joseph ≈ $99,499 purchasing power in Anniston-Oxford
- Goods drives the gap (+2.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MO:AL 86.4→85.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MO × 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.
St. Joseph
86.4
Cost Index
Anniston-Oxford
85.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
St. Joseph, MO-KS and Anniston-Oxford, AL 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.
Goods creates the largest separation: Anniston-Oxford is 2.2 points higher. 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 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 goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $99,499 in Anniston-Oxford as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in St. Joseph, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- St. Joseph
- 94.2
- Anniston-Oxford
- 96.4
Diff +2.2 RPP
Services
- St. Joseph
- 88.3
- Anniston-Oxford
- 87.1
Diff -1.2 RPP
Rents
- St. Joseph
- 55.4
- Anniston-Oxford
- 54.7
Diff -0.7 RPP
| Category | St. Joseph | Anniston-Oxford | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.4 | 85.9 | -0.4 |
| Goods | 94.2 | 96.4 | +2.2 |
| Services | 88.3 | 87.1 | -1.2 |
| Rents | 55.4 | 54.7 | -0.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
St. Joseph 86.4
Anniston-Oxford 85.9
Goods
St. Joseph 94.2
Anniston-Oxford 96.4
Services
St. Joseph 88.3
Anniston-Oxford 87.1
Rents
St. Joseph 55.4
Anniston-Oxford 54.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in St. Joseph would need to be in Anniston-Oxford for the same purchasing power:
| In St. Joseph | In Anniston-Oxford | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,749 | $-251 |
| $75,000 | $74,624 | $-376 |
| $100,000 | $99,499 | $-501 |
| $150,000 | $149,248 | $-752 |
$ in St. Joseph = in Anniston-Oxford
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.4 → 85.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Anniston-Oxford more expensive than St. Joseph?
Anniston-Oxford is 0.5% less expensive than St. Joseph. The overall cost index is 85.9 vs 86.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Anniston-Oxford equals $100K in St. Joseph?
A $100,000 salary in St. Joseph has the same purchasing power as $99,499 in Anniston-Oxford. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between St. Joseph and Anniston-Oxford?
Rents in St. Joseph are indexed at 55.4 while Anniston-Oxford is at 54.7 (national average = 100). St. Joseph 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.