Overall
- Anniston-Oxford
- 85.9
- Hot Springs
- 85.7
Diff -0.2 RPP
Anniston-Oxford vs Hot Springs
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Hot Springs is 0.3% less expensive than Anniston-Oxford.
0.3% less expensive
Hot Springs, AR is 0.3% less expensive than Anniston-Oxford, AL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.7 vs 85.9). A $100,000 salary in Anniston-Oxford buys about the same as $99,745 in Hot Springs; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 85.9 (Anniston-Oxford) vs 85.7 (Hot Springs)
- $100k in Anniston-Oxford ≈ $99,745 purchasing power in Hot Springs
- Services drives the gap (-12.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:AR 85.9→85.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AL × AR
- 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.
Anniston-Oxford
85.9
Cost Index
Hot Springs
85.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Anniston-Oxford, AL and Hot Springs, AR are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Hot Springs is 12.9 points lower. But rents 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Anniston-Oxford to $99,745 in Hot Springs, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Anniston-Oxford
- 96.4
- Hot Springs
- 93.6
Diff -2.8 RPP
Services
- Anniston-Oxford
- 87.1
- Hot Springs
- 74.3
Diff -12.9 RPP
Rents
- Anniston-Oxford
- 54.7
- Hot Springs
- 57.3
Diff +2.6 RPP
| Category | Anniston-Oxford | Hot Springs | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.9 | 85.7 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 93.6 | -2.8 |
| Services | 87.1 | 74.3 | -12.9 |
| Rents | 54.7 | 57.3 | +2.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Anniston-Oxford 85.9
Hot Springs 85.7
Goods
Anniston-Oxford 96.4
Hot Springs 93.6
Services
Anniston-Oxford 87.1
Hot Springs 74.3
Rents
Anniston-Oxford 54.7
Hot Springs 57.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Anniston-Oxford and Hot Springs share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 1.6 to 0.2 RPP points. Anniston-Oxford remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 5.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (18.5 to 12.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Anniston-Oxford RPP | Hot Springs RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 88.2 | 86.7 | 1.6 points Anniston-Oxford higher |
| 2012 | 90.8 | 88.2 | 2.6 points Anniston-Oxford higher |
| 2016 | 90.8 | 88.4 | 2.4 points Anniston-Oxford higher |
| 2020 | 85.8 | 87.2 | 1.4 points Hot Springs higher |
| 2024 | 85.9 | 85.7 | 0.2 points Anniston-Oxford 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 Anniston-Oxford would need to be in Hot Springs for the same purchasing power:
| In Anniston-Oxford | In Hot Springs | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,873 | $-127 |
| $75,000 | $74,809 | $-191 |
| $100,000 | $99,745 | $-255 |
| $150,000 | $149,618 | $-382 |
$ in Anniston-Oxford = in Hot Springs
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.9 → 85.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hot Springs more expensive than Anniston-Oxford?
Hot Springs is 0.3% less expensive than Anniston-Oxford. The overall cost index is 85.7 vs 85.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Hot Springs equals $100K in Anniston-Oxford?
A $100,000 salary in Anniston-Oxford has the same purchasing power as $99,745 in Hot Springs. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Anniston-Oxford and Hot Springs?
Rents in Anniston-Oxford are indexed at 54.7 while Hot Springs is at 57.3 (national average = 100). Hot Springs 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.