Overall
- Santa Fe
- 98.8
Diff +0.7 RPP
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos vs Santa Fe
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Santa Fe is 0.7% more expensive than Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos.
0.7% more expensive
Santa Fe, NM is 0.7% more expensive than Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.8 vs 98.1). A $100,000 salary in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos buys about the same as $100,715 in Santa Fe; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.1 (Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos) vs 98.8 (Santa Fe)
- $100k in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos ≈ $100,715 purchasing power in Santa Fe
- Rents drives the gap (-12.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:NM 98.1→98.8
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × NM
- 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.
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos
98.1
Cost Index
Santa Fe
98.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX and Santa Fe, NM are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.7 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Santa Fe is 12.4 points lower. But rents and services 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 Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos corresponds to $100,715 in Santa Fe.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Santa Fe
- 96.1
Diff +2.4 RPP
Services
- Santa Fe
- 76.7
Diff -5.3 RPP
Rents
- Santa Fe
- 108.0
Diff -12.4 RPP
| Category | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos | Santa Fe | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.1 | 98.8 | +0.7 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 96.1 | +2.4 |
| Services | 82.0 | 76.7 | -5.3 |
| Rents | 120.4 | 108.0 | -12.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos 98.1
Santa Fe 98.8
Goods
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos 93.8
Santa Fe 96.1
Services
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos 82.0
Santa Fe 76.7
Rents
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos 120.4
Santa Fe 108.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos and Santa Fe share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 1.6 to 0.7 RPP points. Santa Fe remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 9.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (14.4 to 5.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos RPP | Santa Fe RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.6 | 98.0 | 1.6 points Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos higher |
| 2012 | 100.9 | 102.1 | 1.2 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2016 | 102.6 | 98.4 | 4.1 points Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos higher |
| 2020 | 101.1 | 96.6 | 4.5 points Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos higher |
| 2024 | 98.1 | 98.8 | 0.7 points Santa Fe 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 Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos would need to be in Santa Fe for the same purchasing power:
| In Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos | In Santa Fe | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,357 | +$357 |
| $75,000 | $75,536 | +$536 |
| $100,000 | $100,715 | +$715 |
| $150,000 | $151,072 | +$1,072 |
$ in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos = in Santa Fe
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.1 → 98.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Santa Fe more expensive than Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos?
Santa Fe is 0.7% more expensive than Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos. The overall cost index is 98.8 vs 98.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Santa Fe equals $100K in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos?
A $100,000 salary in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos has the same purchasing power as $100,715 in Santa Fe. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos and Santa Fe?
Rents in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos are indexed at 120.4 while Santa Fe is at 108.0 (national average = 100). Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos 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.