Overall
- Monroe
- 83.6
Diff -1.8 RPP
Wildwood-The Villages vs Monroe
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Monroe is 2.1% less expensive than Wildwood-The Villages.
2.1% less expensive
Monroe, LA is 2.1% less expensive than Wildwood-The Villages, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 83.6 vs 85.4). A $100,000 salary in Wildwood-The Villages buys about the same as $97,861 in Monroe; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 85.4 (Wildwood-The Villages) vs 83.6 (Monroe)
- $100k in Wildwood-The Villages ≈ $97,861 purchasing power in Monroe
- Services drives the gap (-16.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:LA 85.4→83.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE FL × LA
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
Wildwood-The Villages
85.4
Cost Index
Monroe
83.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Wildwood-The Villages, FL and Monroe, LA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.8 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with Monroe 16.8 points lower than Wildwood-The Villages. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
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 Wildwood-The Villages to $97,861 in Monroe, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Monroe
- 93.7
Diff -2.5 RPP
Services
- Monroe
- 72.2
Diff -16.8 RPP
Rents
- Monroe
- 42.8
Diff -8.9 RPP
| Category | Wildwood-The Villages | Monroe | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.4 | 83.6 | -1.8 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 93.7 | -2.5 |
| Services | 89.0 | 72.2 | -16.8 |
| Rents | 51.7 | 42.8 | -8.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Wildwood-The Villages 85.4
Monroe 83.6
Goods
Wildwood-The Villages 96.2
Monroe 93.7
Services
Wildwood-The Villages 89.0
Monroe 72.2
Rents
Wildwood-The Villages 51.7
Monroe 42.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Wildwood-The Villages would need to be in Monroe for the same purchasing power:
| In Wildwood-The Villages | In Monroe | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,931 | $-1,069 |
| $75,000 | $73,396 | $-1,604 |
| $100,000 | $97,861 | $-2,139 |
| $150,000 | $146,792 | $-3,208 |
$ in Wildwood-The Villages = in Monroe
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.4 → 83.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Monroe more expensive than Wildwood-The Villages?
Monroe is 2.1% less expensive than Wildwood-The Villages. The overall cost index is 83.6 vs 85.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Monroe equals $100K in Wildwood-The Villages?
A $100,000 salary in Wildwood-The Villages has the same purchasing power as $97,861 in Monroe. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Wildwood-The Villages and Monroe?
Rents in Wildwood-The Villages are indexed at 51.7 while Monroe is at 42.8 (national average = 100). Wildwood-The Villages 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.