Overall
- St. Louis
- 95.1
- Cincinnati
- 95.4
Diff +0.3 RPP
St. Louis vs Cincinnati
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Cincinnati is 0.3% more expensive than St. Louis.
0.3% more expensive
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN is 0.3% more expensive than St. Louis, MO-IL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 95.4 vs 95.1). A $100,000 salary in St. Louis buys about the same as $100,297 in Cincinnati; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 95.1 (St. Louis) vs 95.4 (Cincinnati)
- $100k in St. Louis ≈ $100,297 purchasing power in Cincinnati
- Services drives the gap (+21.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MO:OH 95.1→95.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MO × OH
- 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. Louis
95.1
Cost Index
Cincinnati
95.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
St. Louis, MO-IL and Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN 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: Cincinnati is 21.0 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in St. Louis to $100,297 in Cincinnati, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- St. Louis
- 100.0
- Cincinnati
- 93.8
Diff -6.2 RPP
Services
- St. Louis
- 69.9
- Cincinnati
- 91.0
Diff +21.0 RPP
Rents
- St. Louis
- 79.0
- Cincinnati
- 87.6
Diff +8.6 RPP
| Category | St. Louis | Cincinnati | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 95.1 | 95.4 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 100.0 | 93.8 | -6.2 |
| Services | 69.9 | 91.0 | +21.0 |
| Rents | 79.0 | 87.6 | +8.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
St. Louis 95.1
Cincinnati 95.4
Goods
St. Louis 100.0
Cincinnati 93.8
Services
St. Louis 69.9
Cincinnati 91.0
Rents
St. Louis 79.0
Cincinnati 87.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in St. Louis would need to be in Cincinnati for the same purchasing power:
| In St. Louis | In Cincinnati | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,148 | +$148 |
| $75,000 | $75,222 | +$222 |
| $100,000 | $100,297 | +$297 |
| $150,000 | $150,445 | +$445 |
$ in St. Louis = in Cincinnati
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (95.1 → 95.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cincinnati more expensive than St. Louis?
Cincinnati is 0.3% more expensive than St. Louis. The overall cost index is 95.4 vs 95.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Cincinnati equals $100K in St. Louis?
A $100,000 salary in St. Louis has the same purchasing power as $100,297 in Cincinnati. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between St. Louis and Cincinnati?
Rents in St. Louis are indexed at 79.0 while Cincinnati is at 87.6 (national average = 100). Cincinnati 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.