Overall
- St. Joseph
- 86.4
- Grand Forks
- 86.7
Diff +0.3 RPP
St. Joseph vs Grand Forks
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Grand Forks is 0.3% more expensive than St. Joseph.
0.3% more expensive
Grand Forks, ND-MN is 0.3% more expensive than St. Joseph, MO-KS on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 86.7 vs 86.4). A $100,000 salary in St. Joseph buys about the same as $100,325 in Grand Forks; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 86.4 (St. Joseph) vs 86.7 (Grand Forks)
- $100k in St. Joseph ≈ $100,325 purchasing power in Grand Forks
- Services drives the gap (-11.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MO:ND 86.4→86.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MO × ND
- 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
Grand Forks
86.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
St. Joseph, MO-KS and Grand Forks, ND-MN are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Grand Forks is 11.2 points lower. But 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in St. Joseph to $100,325 in Grand Forks, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- St. Joseph
- 94.2
- Grand Forks
- 95.6
Diff +1.5 RPP
Services
- St. Joseph
- 88.3
- Grand Forks
- 77.1
Diff -11.2 RPP
Rents
- St. Joseph
- 55.4
- Grand Forks
- 59.7
Diff +4.3 RPP
| Category | St. Joseph | Grand Forks | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.4 | 86.7 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 94.2 | 95.6 | +1.5 |
| Services | 88.3 | 77.1 | -11.2 |
| Rents | 55.4 | 59.7 | +4.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
St. Joseph 86.4
Grand Forks 86.7
Goods
St. Joseph 94.2
Grand Forks 95.6
Services
St. Joseph 88.3
Grand Forks 77.1
Rents
St. Joseph 55.4
Grand Forks 59.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in St. Joseph would need to be in Grand Forks for the same purchasing power:
| In St. Joseph | In Grand Forks | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,163 | +$163 |
| $75,000 | $75,244 | +$244 |
| $100,000 | $100,325 | +$325 |
| $150,000 | $150,488 | +$488 |
$ in St. Joseph = in Grand Forks
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.4 → 86.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Grand Forks more expensive than St. Joseph?
Grand Forks is 0.3% more expensive than St. Joseph. The overall cost index is 86.7 vs 86.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Grand Forks equals $100K in St. Joseph?
A $100,000 salary in St. Joseph has the same purchasing power as $100,325 in Grand Forks. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between St. Joseph and Grand Forks?
Rents in St. Joseph are indexed at 55.4 while Grand Forks is at 59.7 (national average = 100). Grand Forks 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.