Overall
- St. Joseph
- 86.4
- Kingsport-Bristol
- 86.4
Diff +0.1 RPP
St. Joseph vs Kingsport-Bristol
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Kingsport-Bristol is 0.1% more expensive than St. Joseph.
0.1% more expensive
Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA is 0.1% more expensive than St. Joseph, MO-KS on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 86.4 vs 86.4). A $100,000 salary in St. Joseph buys about the same as $100,075 in Kingsport-Bristol; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 86.4 (St. Joseph) vs 86.4 (Kingsport-Bristol)
- $100k in St. Joseph ≈ $100,075 purchasing power in Kingsport-Bristol
- Services drives the gap (-12.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MO:TN 86.4→86.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MO × TN
- 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
Kingsport-Bristol
86.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
St. Joseph, MO-KS and Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Kingsport-Bristol is 12.4 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 $100,075 in Kingsport-Bristol, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- St. Joseph
- 94.2
- Kingsport-Bristol
- 96.2
Diff +2.1 RPP
Services
- St. Joseph
- 88.3
- Kingsport-Bristol
- 75.9
Diff -12.4 RPP
Rents
- St. Joseph
- 55.4
- Kingsport-Bristol
- 56.5
Diff +1.1 RPP
| Category | St. Joseph | Kingsport-Bristol | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.4 | 86.4 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 94.2 | 96.2 | +2.1 |
| Services | 88.3 | 75.9 | -12.4 |
| Rents | 55.4 | 56.5 | +1.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
St. Joseph 86.4
Kingsport-Bristol 86.4
Goods
St. Joseph 94.2
Kingsport-Bristol 96.2
Services
St. Joseph 88.3
Kingsport-Bristol 75.9
Rents
St. Joseph 55.4
Kingsport-Bristol 56.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in St. Joseph would need to be in Kingsport-Bristol for the same purchasing power:
| In St. Joseph | In Kingsport-Bristol | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,038 | +$38 |
| $75,000 | $75,056 | +$56 |
| $100,000 | $100,075 | +$75 |
| $150,000 | $150,113 | +$113 |
$ in St. Joseph = in Kingsport-Bristol
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.4 → 86.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kingsport-Bristol more expensive than St. Joseph?
Kingsport-Bristol is 0.1% more expensive than St. Joseph. The overall cost index is 86.4 vs 86.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Kingsport-Bristol equals $100K in St. Joseph?
A $100,000 salary in St. Joseph has the same purchasing power as $100,075 in Kingsport-Bristol. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between St. Joseph and Kingsport-Bristol?
Rents in St. Joseph are indexed at 55.4 while Kingsport-Bristol is at 56.5 (national average = 100). Kingsport-Bristol 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.