Overall
- Tuscaloosa
- 87.7
- St. Cloud
- 87.6
Diff -0.1 RPP
Tuscaloosa vs St. Cloud
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. St. Cloud is 0.1% less expensive than Tuscaloosa.
0.1% less expensive
St. Cloud, MN is 0.1% less expensive than Tuscaloosa, AL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.6 vs 87.7). A $100,000 salary in Tuscaloosa buys about the same as $99,897 in St. Cloud; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 87.7 (Tuscaloosa) vs 87.6 (St. Cloud)
- $100k in Tuscaloosa ≈ $99,897 purchasing power in St. Cloud
- Rents drives the gap (+6.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:MN 87.7→87.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AL × MN
- 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.
Tuscaloosa
87.7
Cost Index
St. Cloud
87.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Tuscaloosa, AL and St. Cloud, MN 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.
Rents creates the largest separation: St. Cloud is 6.8 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 Tuscaloosa corresponds to $99,897 in St. Cloud.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Tuscaloosa
- 96.4
- St. Cloud
- 95.4
Diff -1.0 RPP
Services
- Tuscaloosa
- 84.4
- St. Cloud
- 88.7
Diff +4.3 RPP
Rents
- Tuscaloosa
- 58.2
- St. Cloud
- 65.1
Diff +6.8 RPP
| Category | Tuscaloosa | St. Cloud | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.7 | 87.6 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 95.4 | -1.0 |
| Services | 84.4 | 88.7 | +4.3 |
| Rents | 58.2 | 65.1 | +6.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Tuscaloosa 87.7
St. Cloud 87.6
Goods
Tuscaloosa 96.4
St. Cloud 95.4
Services
Tuscaloosa 84.4
St. Cloud 88.7
Rents
Tuscaloosa 58.2
St. Cloud 65.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Tuscaloosa and St. Cloud share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 7.6 to 0.1 RPP points. Tuscaloosa remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 15.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (22.6 to 6.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Tuscaloosa RPP | St. Cloud RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 89.7 | 97.3 | 7.6 points St. Cloud higher |
| 2012 | 90.6 | 95.2 | 4.5 points St. Cloud higher |
| 2016 | 90.9 | 93.7 | 2.8 points St. Cloud higher |
| 2020 | 87.1 | 91.5 | 4.4 points St. Cloud higher |
| 2024 | 87.7 | 87.6 | 0.1 points Tuscaloosa higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Tuscaloosa would need to be in St. Cloud for the same purchasing power:
| In Tuscaloosa | In St. Cloud | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,949 | $-51 |
| $75,000 | $74,923 | $-77 |
| $100,000 | $99,897 | $-103 |
| $150,000 | $149,846 | $-154 |
$ in Tuscaloosa = in St. Cloud
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.7 → 87.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is St. Cloud more expensive than Tuscaloosa?
St. Cloud is 0.1% less expensive than Tuscaloosa. The overall cost index is 87.6 vs 87.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in St. Cloud equals $100K in Tuscaloosa?
A $100,000 salary in Tuscaloosa has the same purchasing power as $99,897 in St. Cloud. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Tuscaloosa and St. Cloud?
Rents in Tuscaloosa are indexed at 58.2 while St. Cloud is at 65.1 (national average = 100). St. Cloud 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.