St. Paul, Minnesota Cost Of Living

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D+

Overall 2%

Goods & Services 11%

Housing 5%

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	St. Paul	Minnesota	National
Cost of living	102	103	100
Goods & Services	111	108	100
Groceries	102	104	100
Health care	98	107	100
Housing	95	100	100
Transportation	105	99	100
Utilities	95	97	100

Key findings

The cost of living in St. Paul is 1% lower than the Minnesota average
The cost of living in St. Paul is 2% higher than the national average
St. Paul housing is 5% lower than the national average
Minnesota general sales tax is 35% higher than the national average
Minnesota state income tax is 117% higher than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$78,272	$6,523	$1,826	$2,348
Renters	$31,016	$2,585	$724	$931

The percentage of monthly income spent on housing related expenses can help predict the affordability of housing in St. Paul, MN, as well as what the overall cost of living might be. Generally, a good rule to follow is that the debt-to-income (DTI) level you want to maintain is 28 percent or less of your income on your rent or mortgage payments and not more than 36 percent of income on all expenses and debts. In St. Paul, homeowners have a median income of $78,272. Using that number, a maximum of $1,826 per month should be allocated to housing expenses. For those who are renting instead of owning, the median income is $31,016, which means there is a maximum of $724 to be spent on the costs of renting a home or apartment.

Minnesota Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Minnesota	6.875%	7.875%

Minnesota Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Minnesota	5.35%	9.85%

Goods & Services

Item	St. Paul	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$25.02	$20.27	23.4%
Beauty Salon	$36.08	$40.39	10.7%
Toothpaste	$3.32	$2.36	40.9%
Shampoo	$1.10	$1.08	2.5%
Movie	$10.36	$10.99	5.7%
Bowling	$29.34	$15.49	89.4%

Groceries

Item	St. Paul	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.46	$4.30	3.8%
Fried Chicken	$2.23	$1.40	59.6%
Milk	$2.55	$2.20	15.6%
Potatoes	$3.22	$3.22	0.1%
Pizza	$13.04	$10.74	21.4%
Beer	$9.00	$9.60	6.2%

Health Care

Item	St. Paul	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$91.05	$109.73	17.0%
Doctor	$147.35	$118.34	24.5%
Dentist	$85.40	$100.94	15.4%
Ibuprofen	$10.83	$9.93	9.0%
Lipitor	$441.75	$469.53	5.9%

Housing

Item	St. Paul	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$178,400.00	$184,700.00	3.4%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,197.54	$1,229.62	2.6%
Apartment Rent	$865.00	$949.00	8.9%

Transportation

Item	St. Paul	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.66	$2.71	1.8%
Tire Balancing	$60.81	$51.86	17.3%

Utilities

Item	St. Paul	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$158.18	$170.84	7.4%
Phone	$185.49	$187.18	0.9%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Landfall, MN	793	76	24.0%
South End, MN	26	79	20.9%
Hilltop, MN	799	82	18.4%
St. Anthony city (Stearns County), MN	106	87	13.2%
Brooklyn Center, MN	30,785	99	1.5%
St. Paul, MN	297,160	102	2.3%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Cincinnati, OH	298,011	88	11.9%
Anchorage, AK	299,321	130	29.6%
Gatineau, QC	293,695	n/a
Stockton, CA	301,443	109	9.1%
Pittsburgh, PA	305,305	93	7.2%
St. Paul, MN	297,160	102	2.3%

Source: This data reflects 2021 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; this is the most current data available.