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St. Louis, MO vs New Orleans, LA

Moving from St. Louis to New Orleans? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($276,878 → $261,414 median home) and taxes.

St. Louis vs New Orleans at a glance

Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.

St. Louis, MO New Orleans, LA Cost-of-living index St. Louis, MO — Cost-of-living index: 95 95 New Orleans, LA — Cost-of-living index: 91 91 Median home price St. Louis, MO — Median home price: $277k $277k New Orleans, LA — Median home price: $261k $261k Price per sqft St. Louis, MO — Price per sqft: $158 $158 New Orleans, LA — Price per sqft: $131 $131 Median rent St. Louis, MO — Median rent: $1,451 $1,451 New Orleans, LA — Median rent: $1,622 $1,622 Combined sales tax St. Louis, MO — Combined sales tax: 8.4% 8.4% New Orleans, LA — Combined sales tax: 9.6% 9.6% Property tax rate St. Louis, MO — Property tax rate: 1.26% 1.26% New Orleans, LA — Property tax rate: 0.62% 0.62% Violent crime /100k St. Louis, MO — Violent crime /100k: 490 490 New Orleans, LA — Violent crime /100k: 630 630 Electricity ¢/kWh St. Louis, MO — Electricity ¢/kWh: 14.0 14.0 New Orleans, LA — Electricity ¢/kWh: 14.4 14.4 Avg commute (min) St. Louis, MO — Avg commute (min): 25 25 New Orleans, LA — Avg commute (min): 26 26 Avg summer high °F St. Louis, MO — Avg summer high °F: 89° 89° New Orleans, LA — Avg summer high °F: 92° 92° Avg winter low °F St. Louis, MO — Avg winter low °F: 22° 22° New Orleans, LA — Avg winter low °F: 43° 43°

To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in St. Louis, MO, you'd need about $96,021 in New Orleans, LA (−$3,979).

Livability — St. Louis, MO: 65 · New Orleans, LA: 68 (0–100).

What your home budget buys

A $500,000 home budget gets you about 3,161 sqft in St. Louis vs 3,826 sqft in New Orleans ($158 vs $131 per sqft).

Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)

CategorySt. Louis, MONew Orleans, LADifference
Housing $17,412 $19,464 +$2,052
Groceries $4,934 $4,650 −$284
Transportation $3,390 $4,475 +$1,085
Utilities $1,512 $1,560 +$48
Insurance $2,400 $3,500 +$1,100
Taxes $10,488 $9,107 −$1,381
Total $40,136 $42,756 +$2,620

Side by side

MetricSt. Louis, MONew Orleans, LA
Cost-of-living index95.091.2
Unemployment rate4.35%6.72%
Population growth (5-yr)0.3%0.3%
Air quality (median AQI)5548
Big Mac price (est.)$5.40$5.19
Median home price$276,878$261,414
Home price ÷ income3.7×4.2×
1-yr home appreciation2.9%2.8%
Price per square foot$158$131
Median rent$1,451$1,622
Total tax burden (% income)9.3%9.1%
Combined sales tax8.38%9.56%
Capital gains tax4.80%4.25%
Property tax rate1.26%0.62%
Healthcare (annual)$6,400$6,600
Childcare (annual, infant)$10,000$8,000
Vehicle property tax2.55%0.10%
Avg commute (min)2526
Home insurance / yr$2,400$3,500
Auto insurance / yr$1,800$2,900
Flood insurance / yr$750$1,000
Earthquake insurance / yr$400$100
Electricity ¢/kWh14.014.4
Gas $/gal3.002.95
Violent crime /100k490630
Avg summer high °F8992
Avg winter low °F2243
Permit difficulty (1–5)22
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