Overall
- Kingsport-Bristol
- 86.4
Diff +0.5 RPP
Brownsville-Harlingen vs Kingsport-Bristol
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Kingsport-Bristol is 0.5% more expensive than Brownsville-Harlingen.
0.5% more expensive
Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA is 0.5% more expensive than Brownsville-Harlingen, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 86.4 vs 86.0). A $100,000 salary in Brownsville-Harlingen buys about the same as $100,549 in Kingsport-Bristol; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 86.0 (Brownsville-Harlingen) vs 86.4 (Kingsport-Bristol)
- $100k in Brownsville-Harlingen ≈ $100,549 purchasing power in Kingsport-Bristol
- Services drives the gap (-5.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:TN 86.0→86.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × 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.
Brownsville-Harlingen
86.0
Cost Index
Kingsport-Bristol
86.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Brownsville-Harlingen, TX and Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Kingsport-Bristol is 5.2 points lower. But services and 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 Brownsville-Harlingen to $100,549 in Kingsport-Bristol, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Kingsport-Bristol
- 96.2
Diff +2.5 RPP
Services
- Kingsport-Bristol
- 75.9
Diff -5.2 RPP
Rents
- Kingsport-Bristol
- 56.5
Diff -1.2 RPP
| Category | Brownsville-Harlingen | Kingsport-Bristol | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.0 | 86.4 | +0.5 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 96.2 | +2.5 |
| Services | 81.2 | 75.9 | -5.2 |
| Rents | 57.7 | 56.5 | -1.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Brownsville-Harlingen 86.0
Kingsport-Bristol 86.4
Goods
Brownsville-Harlingen 93.8
Kingsport-Bristol 96.2
Services
Brownsville-Harlingen 81.2
Kingsport-Bristol 75.9
Rents
Brownsville-Harlingen 57.7
Kingsport-Bristol 56.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Brownsville-Harlingen would need to be in Kingsport-Bristol for the same purchasing power:
| In Brownsville-Harlingen | In Kingsport-Bristol | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,274 | +$274 |
| $75,000 | $75,412 | +$412 |
| $100,000 | $100,549 | +$549 |
| $150,000 | $150,823 | +$823 |
$ in Brownsville-Harlingen = in Kingsport-Bristol
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.0 → 86.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kingsport-Bristol more expensive than Brownsville-Harlingen?
Kingsport-Bristol is 0.5% more expensive than Brownsville-Harlingen. The overall cost index is 86.4 vs 86.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Kingsport-Bristol equals $100K in Brownsville-Harlingen?
A $100,000 salary in Brownsville-Harlingen has the same purchasing power as $100,549 in Kingsport-Bristol. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Brownsville-Harlingen and Kingsport-Bristol?
Rents in Brownsville-Harlingen are indexed at 57.7 while Kingsport-Bristol is at 56.5 (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.