St. Paul, MN Cost Of Living

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St. Paul cost of living index

In the event that the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used. Each cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. If the amount is below 100, it is lower than the national average. If the amount is above 100, it is higher than the national average.
Index	St. Paul	Minnesota	National
Cost of living index	101	102	100
Index	St. Paul	Minnesota	National
Goods & Services index	107	105	100
Groceries index	105	106	100
Health care index	106	113	100
Housing index	95	100	100
Transportation index	105	103	100
Utilities index	90	89	100

A general summary of the cost of living index in St. Paul, MN is shown above. Compared to the state average of Minnesota the cost of living index in St. Paul, MN is 101, which is 1% lower than the average in Minnesota and compared to the national average it is 1% higher than. The cost of living index is made up of several categories. These are transportation at 9%, utilities at 10%, goods and services at 33%, housing at 30%, groceries at 13%, and health care at 5%. The bulk of the cost of living index comes from the categories of goods and services and housing. If you look at everyday goods and services they can be a good indicator in a certain city of the general costs of goods there. In St. Paul, MN goods and services come in at 2% higher than the average in Minnesota and are 7% higher than compared to the nationwide average.

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Did you know?

The cost of living in St. Paul is 1% lower than the Minnesota average.
The cost of living in St. Paul is 1% higher than the national average.
The cost of housing in St. Paul is 5% lower than the national average.
Minnesota general sales tax is 35% higher than the national average.
Minnesota state income tax is 141% higher than the national average.

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

Use the salary calculator to compare your current salary in St. Paul, MN to any other city. The salary calculator will tell you how much you would need to earn in any given city to maintain the same standard of living based on the cost of living in each city. For example, if the cost of living in the city you are looking to relocate to is higher than the cost of living in St. Paul, MN, then you would need to earn more income in order to maintain the same standard of living. To use the St. Paul, MN salary calculator, simply enter in the name of the new city, then adjust the slider to your current income. The salary calculator will do the rest and let you know if you need to earn more or less in the new city. You will also see a complete breakdown of the cost of living.

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

How much of your monthly income goes to housing can tell you whether or not you can afford housing in St. Paul, MN, as well as what the average cost of living is. 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 payment and not more than 36 percent of income on all expenses and debts. In St. Paul, MN homeowners have a median income of $78,272. Using that number, you will come up with a maximum of $1,826 per month that can be spent on the cost of housing. 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%

For those who live in St. Paul, MN and want to know what the true cost of living is, they ought to look at both the Minnesota income tax rate and the Minnesota sales tax rate. By sales tax, we mean the taxes that are included whenever a person is purchasing any goods or services. The amount that is taxed depends upon the particular state, where some states have a sales tax of zero percent while others can have a tax higher than seven percent. In Minnesota, the sales tax is 6.875%, while the most you'll pay in surtax is 7.875%. There is also income tax to consider, which is based upon the amount of money made in a year. Just like sales tax, income tax depends upon the particular state but also depends upon what tax bracket the person is in. Income tax for the state can be higher than nine percent in some states to zero percent in others. For those that live in Minnesota, the income tax rate ranges between 5.35% to 9.85%.

Goods & Services

Item	St. Paul	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$22.35	$16.09	39.0%
Beauty Salon	$35.96	$37.33	3.7%
Toothpaste	$3.33	$2.45	35.9%
Shampoo	$1.07	$1.00	6.9%
Movie	$10.02	$10.28	2.5%
Bowling	$3.95	$4.93	19.8%

Groceries

Item	St. Paul	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.16	$3.80	9.5%
Fried Chicken	$1.97	$1.40	41.3%
Milk	$2.22	$2.01	10.4%
Potatoes	$3.33	$3.01	10.5%
Pizza	$11.55	$9.89	16.8%
Beer	$8.97	$8.90	0.8%

Health Care

Item	St. Paul	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$85.02	$102.16	16.8%
Doctor	$135.93	$108.36	25.4%
Dentist	$84.21	$92.53	9.0%
Ibuprofen	$11.98	$9.28	29.1%
Lipitor	$423.18	$425.82	0.6%

Housing

Item	St. Paul	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$178,400.00	$184,700.00	3.4%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,261.54	$1,202.44	4.9%
Apartment Rent	$865.00	$949.00	8.9%

Transportation

Item	St. Paul	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.23	$2.24	0.5%
Tire Balancing	$53.80	$46.29	16.2%

Utilities

Item	St. Paul	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$153.14	$165.96	7.7%
Phone	$24.99	$28.68	12.9%

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, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Landfall, MN	793	75	-25%
South End, MN	26	78	-22%
Hilltop, MN	799	81	-19%
St. Anthony city (Stearns County), MN	106	86	-14%
Brooklyn Center, MN	30,785	98	-2%
St. Paul, MN	297,160	101	1%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Cincinnati, OH	298,011	89	-11%
Anchorage, AK	299,321	130	30%
Stockton, CA	301,443	108	8%
Pittsburgh, PA	305,305	91	-9%
Lexington-Fayette, KY	311,529	95	-5%
St. Paul, MN	297,160	101	1%

Source: The St. Paul, MN cost of living data displayed above is derived from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) for 2017.

St. Paul, MN Cost of Living