Overall
- Bakersfield-Delano
- 100.9
Diff +2.2 RPP
Bakersfield-Delano vs Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is 2.2% more expensive than Bakersfield-Delano.
2.2% more expensive
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX is 2.2% more expensive than Bakersfield-Delano, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.1 vs 100.9). A $100,000 salary in Bakersfield-Delano buys about the same as $102,185 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 100.9 (Bakersfield-Delano) vs 103.1 (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington)
- $100k in Bakersfield-Delano ≈ $102,185 purchasing power in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
- Services drives the gap (-67.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:TX 100.9→103.1
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE CA × TX
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Bakersfield-Delano
- 105.2
Diff -2.3 RPP
Services
- Bakersfield-Delano
- 158.3
Diff -67.5 RPP
Rents
- Bakersfield-Delano
- 90.3
Diff +27.6 RPP
| Category | Bakersfield-Delano | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 100.9 | 103.1 | +2.2 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 102.8 | -2.3 |
| Services | 158.3 | 90.7 | -67.5 |
| Rents | 90.3 | 117.9 | +27.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Bakersfield-Delano 100.9
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 103.1
Goods
Bakersfield-Delano 105.2
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 102.8
Services
Bakersfield-Delano 158.3
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 90.7
Rents
Bakersfield-Delano 90.3
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 117.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is 67.5 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.
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX is 2.2% more expensive than Bakersfield-Delano, CA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.2-point overall gap.
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Bakersfield-Delano to $102,185 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Bakersfield-Delano
100.9
Cost Index
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
103.1
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Bakersfield-Delano would need to be in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington for the same purchasing power:
| In Bakersfield-Delano | In Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,092 | +$1,092 |
| $75,000 | $76,638 | +$1,638 |
| $100,000 | $102,185 | +$2,185 |
| $150,000 | $153,277 | +$3,277 |
$ in Bakersfield-Delano = in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (100.9 → 103.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Bakersfield-Delano and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 4.5 to 2.2 RPP points. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 75.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (8.1 to 67.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Bakersfield-Delano RPP | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 96.9 | 101.4 | 4.5 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2012 | 101.1 | 100.8 | 0.3 points Bakersfield-Delano higher |
| 2016 | 96.5 | 98.0 | 1.5 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2020 | 100.3 | 104.5 | 4.2 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2024 | 100.9 | 103.1 | 2.2 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington more expensive than Bakersfield-Delano?
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is 2.2% more expensive than Bakersfield-Delano. The overall cost index is 103.1 vs 100.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington equals $100K in Bakersfield-Delano?
A $100,000 salary in Bakersfield-Delano has the same purchasing power as $102,185 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Bakersfield-Delano and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
Rents in Bakersfield-Delano are indexed at 90.3 while Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is at 117.9 (national average = 100). Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 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.