Overall
- Elizabethtown
- 90.6
Diff -0.4 RPP
College Station-Bryan vs Elizabethtown
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Elizabethtown is 0.4% less expensive than College Station-Bryan.
0.4% less expensive
Elizabethtown, KY is 0.4% less expensive than College Station-Bryan, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 90.6 vs 91.0). A $100,000 salary in College Station-Bryan buys about the same as $99,583 in Elizabethtown; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 91.0 (College Station-Bryan) vs 90.6 (Elizabethtown)
- $100k in College Station-Bryan ≈ $99,583 purchasing power in Elizabethtown
- Services drives the gap (-9.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:KY 91.0→90.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × KY
- 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.
College Station-Bryan
91.0
Cost Index
Elizabethtown
90.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
College Station-Bryan, TX and Elizabethtown, KY are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Elizabethtown is 9.8 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in College Station-Bryan to $99,583 in Elizabethtown, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Elizabethtown
- 96.2
Diff +2.5 RPP
Services
- Elizabethtown
- 74.6
Diff -9.8 RPP
Rents
- Elizabethtown
- 66.7
Diff -8.4 RPP
| Category | College Station-Bryan | Elizabethtown | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.0 | 90.6 | -0.4 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 96.2 | +2.5 |
| Services | 84.4 | 74.6 | -9.8 |
| Rents | 75.1 | 66.7 | -8.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
College Station-Bryan 91.0
Elizabethtown 90.6
Goods
College Station-Bryan 93.8
Elizabethtown 96.2
Services
College Station-Bryan 84.4
Elizabethtown 74.6
Rents
College Station-Bryan 75.1
Elizabethtown 66.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in College Station-Bryan would need to be in Elizabethtown for the same purchasing power:
| In College Station-Bryan | In Elizabethtown | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,792 | $-208 |
| $75,000 | $74,687 | $-313 |
| $100,000 | $99,583 | $-417 |
| $150,000 | $149,375 | $-625 |
$ in College Station-Bryan = in Elizabethtown
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.0 → 90.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Elizabethtown more expensive than College Station-Bryan?
Elizabethtown is 0.4% less expensive than College Station-Bryan. The overall cost index is 90.6 vs 91.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Elizabethtown equals $100K in College Station-Bryan?
A $100,000 salary in College Station-Bryan has the same purchasing power as $99,583 in Elizabethtown. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between College Station-Bryan and Elizabethtown?
Rents in College Station-Bryan are indexed at 75.1 while Elizabethtown is at 66.7 (national average = 100). College Station-Bryan 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.