Overall
- Bismarck
- 91.0
- Clarksville
- 90.9
Diff -0.1 RPP
Bismarck vs Clarksville
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Clarksville is 0.1% less expensive than Bismarck.
0.1% less expensive
Clarksville, TN-KY is 0.1% less expensive than Bismarck, ND on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 90.9 vs 91.0). A $100,000 salary in Bismarck buys about the same as $99,915 in Clarksville; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 91.0 (Bismarck) vs 90.9 (Clarksville)
- $100k in Bismarck ≈ $99,915 purchasing power in Clarksville
- Rents drives the gap (-10.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ND:TN 91.0→90.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE ND × TN
- 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.
Bismarck
91.0
Cost Index
Clarksville
90.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Bismarck, ND and Clarksville, TN-KY are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Clarksville is 10.2 points lower. But 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 Bismarck corresponds to $99,915 in Clarksville.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Bismarck
- 95.7
- Clarksville
- 96.2
Diff +0.5 RPP
Services
- Bismarck
- 75.0
- Clarksville
- 72.5
Diff -2.5 RPP
Rents
- Bismarck
- 84.0
- Clarksville
- 73.8
Diff -10.2 RPP
| Category | Bismarck | Clarksville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.0 | 90.9 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 95.7 | 96.2 | +0.5 |
| Services | 75.0 | 72.5 | -2.5 |
| Rents | 84.0 | 73.8 | -10.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Bismarck 91.0
Clarksville 90.9
Goods
Bismarck 95.7
Clarksville 96.2
Services
Bismarck 75.0
Clarksville 72.5
Rents
Bismarck 84.0
Clarksville 73.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Bismarck and Clarksville share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.5 to 0.1 RPP points. Bismarck remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 22.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (12.5 to 10.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Bismarck RPP | Clarksville RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 90.0 | 90.5 | 0.5 points Clarksville higher |
| 2012 | 95.2 | 93.0 | 2.3 points Bismarck higher |
| 2016 | 96.0 | 93.6 | 2.4 points Bismarck higher |
| 2020 | 92.6 | 88.8 | 3.9 points Bismarck higher |
| 2024 | 91.0 | 90.9 | 0.1 points Bismarck 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 Bismarck would need to be in Clarksville for the same purchasing power:
| In Bismarck | In Clarksville | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,958 | $-42 |
| $75,000 | $74,937 | $-63 |
| $100,000 | $99,915 | $-85 |
| $150,000 | $149,873 | $-127 |
$ in Bismarck = in Clarksville
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.0 → 90.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Clarksville more expensive than Bismarck?
Clarksville is 0.1% less expensive than Bismarck. The overall cost index is 90.9 vs 91.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Clarksville equals $100K in Bismarck?
A $100,000 salary in Bismarck has the same purchasing power as $99,915 in Clarksville. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Bismarck and Clarksville?
Rents in Bismarck are indexed at 84.0 while Clarksville is at 73.8 (national average = 100). Bismarck 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.