Overall
- Cape Girardeau
- 86.1
- Fort Smith
- 85.9
Diff -0.2 RPP
Cape Girardeau vs Fort Smith
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Fort Smith is 0.2% less expensive than Cape Girardeau.
0.2% less expensive
Fort Smith, AR-OK is 0.2% less expensive than Cape Girardeau, MO-IL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.9 vs 86.1). A $100,000 salary in Cape Girardeau buys about the same as $99,779 in Fort Smith; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 86.1 (Cape Girardeau) vs 85.9 (Fort Smith)
- $100k in Cape Girardeau ≈ $99,779 purchasing power in Fort Smith
- Services drives the gap (-11.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MO:AR 86.1→85.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MO × 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.
Cape Girardeau
86.1
Cost Index
Fort Smith
85.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Cape Girardeau, MO-IL and Fort Smith, AR-OK are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 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 11.8 points lower than Cape Girardeau. 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 Cape Girardeau to $99,779 in Fort Smith, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Cape Girardeau
- 94.2
- Fort Smith
- 93.6
Diff -0.6 RPP
Services
- Cape Girardeau
- 85.6
- Fort Smith
- 73.8
Diff -11.8 RPP
Rents
- Cape Girardeau
- 56.4
- Fort Smith
- 53.4
Diff -3.0 RPP
| Category | Cape Girardeau | Fort Smith | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.1 | 85.9 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 94.2 | 93.6 | -0.6 |
| Services | 85.6 | 73.8 | -11.8 |
| Rents | 56.4 | 53.4 | -3.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Cape Girardeau 86.1
Fort Smith 85.9
Goods
Cape Girardeau 94.2
Fort Smith 93.6
Services
Cape Girardeau 85.6
Fort Smith 73.8
Rents
Cape Girardeau 56.4
Fort Smith 53.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Cape Girardeau would need to be in Fort Smith for the same purchasing power:
| In Cape Girardeau | In Fort Smith | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,890 | $-110 |
| $75,000 | $74,834 | $-166 |
| $100,000 | $99,779 | $-221 |
| $150,000 | $149,669 | $-331 |
$ in Cape Girardeau = in Fort Smith
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.1 → 85.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fort Smith more expensive than Cape Girardeau?
Fort Smith is 0.2% less expensive than Cape Girardeau. The overall cost index is 85.9 vs 86.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Fort Smith equals $100K in Cape Girardeau?
A $100,000 salary in Cape Girardeau has the same purchasing power as $99,779 in Fort Smith. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Cape Girardeau and Fort Smith?
Rents in Cape Girardeau are indexed at 56.4 while Fort Smith is at 53.4 (national average = 100). Cape Girardeau 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.