Overall
- St. Louis
- 95.1
Diff -0.4 RPP
St. Louis vs San Antonio-New Braunfels
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. San Antonio-New Braunfels is 0.4% less expensive than St. Louis.
0.4% less expensive
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX is 0.4% less expensive than St. Louis, MO-IL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 94.7 vs 95.1). A $100,000 salary in St. Louis buys about the same as $99,609 in San Antonio-New Braunfels; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 95.1 (St. Louis) vs 94.7 (San Antonio-New Braunfels)
- $100k in St. Louis ≈ $99,609 purchasing power in San Antonio-New Braunfels
- Rents drives the gap (+15.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MO:TX 95.1→94.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MO × TX
- 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
San Antonio-New Braunfels
94.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
St. Louis, MO-IL and San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX 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.
Rents creates the largest separation: San Antonio-New Braunfels is 15.6 points higher. But rents and 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 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. Louis corresponds to $99,609 in San Antonio-New Braunfels.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- St. Louis
- 100.0
Diff -6.2 RPP
Services
- St. Louis
- 69.9
Diff +12.2 RPP
Rents
- St. Louis
- 79.0
Diff +15.6 RPP
| Category | St. Louis | San Antonio-New Braunfels | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 95.1 | 94.7 | -0.4 |
| Goods | 100.0 | 93.8 | -6.2 |
| Services | 69.9 | 82.2 | +12.2 |
| Rents | 79.0 | 94.6 | +15.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
St. Louis 95.1
San Antonio-New Braunfels 94.7
Goods
St. Louis 100.0
San Antonio-New Braunfels 93.8
Services
St. Louis 69.9
San Antonio-New Braunfels 82.2
Rents
St. Louis 79.0
San Antonio-New Braunfels 94.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in St. Louis would need to be in San Antonio-New Braunfels for the same purchasing power:
| In St. Louis | In San Antonio-New Braunfels | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,804 | $-196 |
| $75,000 | $74,707 | $-293 |
| $100,000 | $99,609 | $-391 |
| $150,000 | $149,413 | $-587 |
$ in St. Louis = in San Antonio-New Braunfels
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (95.1 → 94.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is San Antonio-New Braunfels more expensive than St. Louis?
San Antonio-New Braunfels is 0.4% less expensive than St. Louis. The overall cost index is 94.7 vs 95.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in San Antonio-New Braunfels equals $100K in St. Louis?
A $100,000 salary in St. Louis has the same purchasing power as $99,609 in San Antonio-New Braunfels. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between St. Louis and San Antonio-New Braunfels?
Rents in St. Louis are indexed at 79.0 while San Antonio-New Braunfels is at 94.6 (national average = 100). San Antonio-New Braunfels 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.