Overall
Diff -0.5 RPP
Abilene vs El Paso
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. El Paso is 0.5% less expensive than Abilene.
0.5% less expensive
El Paso, TX is 0.5% less expensive than Abilene, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 89.9 vs 90.4). A $100,000 salary in Abilene buys about the same as $99,500 in El Paso; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 90.4 (Abilene) vs 89.9 (El Paso)
- $100k in Abilene ≈ $99,500 purchasing power in El Paso
- Rents drives the gap (-2.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:TX 90.4→89.9
PHOTO-FINISH · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- SAME-STATE Same state · TX
- 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.
Abilene
90.4
Cost Index
El Paso
89.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Abilene, TX and El Paso, TX are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: El Paso is 2.5 points lower. But services 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 housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Abilene corresponds to $99,500 in El Paso.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
Diff +1.4 RPP
Rents
Diff -2.5 RPP
| Category | Abilene | El Paso | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 90.4 | 89.9 | -0.5 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 93.8 | 0.0 |
| Services | 81.2 | 82.6 | +1.4 |
| Rents | 73.8 | 71.2 | -2.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Abilene 90.4
El Paso 89.9
Goods
Abilene 93.8
El Paso 93.8
Services
Abilene 81.2
El Paso 82.6
Rents
Abilene 73.8
El Paso 71.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Abilene and El Paso share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.3 to 0.5 RPP points. Abilene remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 5.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (3.6 to 1.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Abilene RPP | El Paso RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 92.2 | 92.5 | 0.3 points El Paso higher |
| 2012 | 94.1 | 95.6 | 1.5 points El Paso higher |
| 2016 | 93.3 | 95.2 | 1.9 points El Paso higher |
| 2020 | 90.3 | 92.7 | 2.4 points El Paso higher |
| 2024 | 90.4 | 89.9 | 0.5 points Abilene 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 Abilene would need to be in El Paso for the same purchasing power:
| In Abilene | In El Paso | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,750 | $-250 |
| $75,000 | $74,625 | $-375 |
| $100,000 | $99,500 | $-500 |
| $150,000 | $149,250 | $-750 |
$ in Abilene = in El Paso
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (90.4 → 89.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is El Paso more expensive than Abilene?
El Paso is 0.5% less expensive than Abilene. The overall cost index is 89.9 vs 90.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in El Paso equals $100K in Abilene?
A $100,000 salary in Abilene has the same purchasing power as $99,500 in El Paso. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Abilene and El Paso?
Rents in Abilene are indexed at 73.8 while El Paso is at 71.2 (national average = 100). Abilene 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.