Overall
- Fort Smith
- 85.9
Diff -0.1 RPP
Brownsville-Harlingen vs Fort Smith
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Fort Smith is 0.1% less expensive than Brownsville-Harlingen.
0.1% less expensive
Fort Smith, AR-OK is 0.1% less expensive than Brownsville-Harlingen, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.9 vs 86.0). A $100,000 salary in Brownsville-Harlingen buys about the same as $99,899 in Fort Smith; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 86.0 (Brownsville-Harlingen) vs 85.9 (Fort Smith)
- $100k in Brownsville-Harlingen ≈ $99,899 purchasing power in Fort Smith
- Services drives the gap (-7.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:AR 86.0→85.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × AR
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
Brownsville-Harlingen
86.0
Cost Index
Fort Smith
85.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Brownsville-Harlingen, TX and Fort Smith, AR-OK 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.
Services leads the difference, with Fort Smith 7.4 points lower than Brownsville-Harlingen. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
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 Brownsville-Harlingen to $99,899 in Fort Smith, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Fort Smith
- 93.6
Diff -0.2 RPP
Services
- Fort Smith
- 73.8
Diff -7.4 RPP
Rents
- Fort Smith
- 53.4
Diff -4.3 RPP
| Category | Brownsville-Harlingen | Fort Smith | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.0 | 85.9 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 93.6 | -0.2 |
| Services | 81.2 | 73.8 | -7.4 |
| Rents | 57.7 | 53.4 | -4.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Brownsville-Harlingen 86.0
Fort Smith 85.9
Goods
Brownsville-Harlingen 93.8
Fort Smith 93.6
Services
Brownsville-Harlingen 81.2
Fort Smith 73.8
Rents
Brownsville-Harlingen 57.7
Fort Smith 53.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Brownsville-Harlingen would need to be in Fort Smith for the same purchasing power:
| In Brownsville-Harlingen | In Fort Smith | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,949 | $-51 |
| $75,000 | $74,924 | $-76 |
| $100,000 | $99,899 | $-101 |
| $150,000 | $149,848 | $-152 |
$ in Brownsville-Harlingen = in Fort Smith
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.0 → 85.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fort Smith more expensive than Brownsville-Harlingen?
Fort Smith is 0.1% less expensive than Brownsville-Harlingen. The overall cost index is 85.9 vs 86.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Fort Smith equals $100K in Brownsville-Harlingen?
A $100,000 salary in Brownsville-Harlingen has the same purchasing power as $99,899 in Fort Smith. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Brownsville-Harlingen and Fort Smith?
Rents in Brownsville-Harlingen are indexed at 57.7 while Fort Smith is at 53.4 (national average = 100). Brownsville-Harlingen 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.