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CityLedger

Providence vs St. Louis

Metro-area medians — Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metro Area vs St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area — not the cities proper.

St. Louis comes out ahead, winning 8 of the 9 clearly-decided measures.

St. Louis costs about 7% less to live in, and household incomes are similar. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in St. Louis.

For your salary & household

Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.

Providence, RI
$58,910
take-home / yr · 21% to tax
$57,883
real value after local prices
St. Louis, MO
$58,705
take-home / yr · 22% to tax
$61,737
real value after local prices

On $75,000 for just you, St. Louis leaves you about $3,854/yr better off after tax and local prices.

Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.

Measure
Providence
St. Louis
Livability (CityLedger)
52/100
62/100
Cost of living (price level, US = 100)
101.8
95.1
Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
$81,426
$85,898
Median household income
$82,870
$81,679
Median rent
$1,396/mo
$1,154/mo
Median home value
$471,000
$268,300
Unemployment
4.6%
3.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher
36.5%
39.5%
Average commute
27.9 min
25.4 min
Air quality (median AQI)
42
55
Avg temperature
52°F
57°F

Choose Providence for

  • + Air quality (median AQI)
Full Providence profile →

Choose St. Louis for

  • + Livability (CityLedger)
  • + Cost of living (price level, US = 100)
  • + Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
  • + Median rent
  • + Median home value
  • + Unemployment
  • + Bachelor's degree or higher
  • + Average commute
Full St. Louis profile →

Providence vs St. Louis — frequently asked

Is Providence cheaper than St. Louis?
St. Louis is cheaper: its overall cost of living runs about 7% below Providence's (BEA Regional Price Parities).
Which has higher household income, Providence or St. Louis?
Household incomes are similar — $82,870 in the Providence metro versus $81,679 in St. Louis (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).
Does a paycheck go further in Providence or St. Louis?
A paycheck stretches further in St. Louis. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $85,898 there versus $81,426 in Providence.
Which has cheaper rent, Providence or St. Louis?
St. Louis has cheaper rent — a median of $1,154/mo versus $1,396/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).