Overall
- Youngstown-Warren
- 87.4
- Decatur
- 87.2
Diff -0.2 RPP
Youngstown-Warren vs Decatur
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Decatur is 0.2% less expensive than Youngstown-Warren.
0.2% less expensive
Decatur, AL is 0.2% less expensive than Youngstown-Warren, OH on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.2 vs 87.4). A $100,000 salary in Youngstown-Warren buys about the same as $99,792 in Decatur; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.4 (Youngstown-Warren) vs 87.2 (Decatur)
- $100k in Youngstown-Warren ≈ $99,792 purchasing power in Decatur
- Services drives the gap (-11.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair OH:AL 87.4→87.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE OH × AL
- 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.
Youngstown-Warren
87.4
Cost Index
Decatur
87.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Youngstown-Warren, OH and Decatur, AL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Decatur is 11.5 points lower. But rents and 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 Youngstown-Warren to $99,792 in Decatur, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Youngstown-Warren
- 93.6
- Decatur
- 96.4
Diff +2.8 RPP
Services
- Youngstown-Warren
- 96.3
- Decatur
- 84.7
Diff -11.5 RPP
Rents
- Youngstown-Warren
- 53.4
- Decatur
- 58.1
Diff +4.6 RPP
| Category | Youngstown-Warren | Decatur | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.4 | 87.2 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 96.4 | +2.8 |
| Services | 96.3 | 84.7 | -11.5 |
| Rents | 53.4 | 58.1 | +4.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Youngstown-Warren 87.4
Decatur 87.2
Goods
Youngstown-Warren 93.6
Decatur 96.4
Services
Youngstown-Warren 96.3
Decatur 84.7
Rents
Youngstown-Warren 53.4
Decatur 58.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Youngstown-Warren and Decatur share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 1.5 to 0.2 RPP points. Youngstown-Warren remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 7.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (2.6 to 4.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Youngstown-Warren RPP | Decatur RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 91.3 | 89.8 | 1.5 points Youngstown-Warren higher |
| 2012 | 90.8 | 88.2 | 2.5 points Youngstown-Warren higher |
| 2016 | 87.8 | 89.2 | 1.5 points Decatur higher |
| 2020 | 86.1 | 87.2 | 1.1 points Decatur higher |
| 2024 | 87.4 | 87.2 | 0.2 points Youngstown-Warren 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 Youngstown-Warren would need to be in Decatur for the same purchasing power:
| In Youngstown-Warren | In Decatur | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,896 | $-104 |
| $75,000 | $74,844 | $-156 |
| $100,000 | $99,792 | $-208 |
| $150,000 | $149,688 | $-312 |
$ in Youngstown-Warren = in Decatur
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.4 → 87.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Decatur more expensive than Youngstown-Warren?
Decatur is 0.2% less expensive than Youngstown-Warren. The overall cost index is 87.2 vs 87.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Decatur equals $100K in Youngstown-Warren?
A $100,000 salary in Youngstown-Warren has the same purchasing power as $99,792 in Decatur. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Youngstown-Warren and Decatur?
Rents in Youngstown-Warren are indexed at 53.4 while Decatur is at 58.1 (national average = 100). Decatur 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.