Overall
- Cincinnati
- 95.4
Diff -7.7 RPP
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington vs Cincinnati
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Cincinnati is 7.5% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington.
7.5% less expensive
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN is 7.5% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 95.4 vs 103.1). A $100,000 salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington buys about the same as $92,511 in Cincinnati; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.1 (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington) vs 95.4 (Cincinnati)
- $100k in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ≈ $92,511 purchasing power in Cincinnati
- Rents drives the gap (-30.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:OH 103.1→95.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE TX × OH
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Cincinnati
- 93.8
Diff -9.1 RPP
Services
- Cincinnati
- 91.0
Diff +0.2 RPP
Rents
- Cincinnati
- 87.6
Diff -30.3 RPP
| Category | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Cincinnati | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.1 | 95.4 | -7.7 |
| Goods | 102.8 | 93.8 | -9.1 |
| Services | 90.7 | 91.0 | +0.2 |
| Rents | 117.9 | 87.6 | -30.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 103.1
Cincinnati 95.4
Goods
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 102.8
Cincinnati 93.8
Services
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 90.7
Cincinnati 91.0
Rents
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 117.9
Cincinnati 87.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Cincinnati is 30.3 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN is 7.5% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 7.7-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is above 100 while Cincinnati is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington corresponds to $92,511 in Cincinnati.
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
103.1
Cost Index
Cincinnati
95.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington would need to be in Cincinnati for the same purchasing power:
| In Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | In Cincinnati | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,256 | $-3,744 |
| $75,000 | $69,384 | $-5,616 |
| $100,000 | $92,511 | $-7,489 |
| $150,000 | $138,767 | $-11,233 |
$ in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington = in Cincinnati
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.1 → 95.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cincinnati more expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
Cincinnati is 7.5% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington. The overall cost index is 95.4 vs 103.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Cincinnati equals $100K in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
A $100,000 salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington has the same purchasing power as $92,511 in Cincinnati. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Cincinnati?
Rents in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington are indexed at 117.9 while Cincinnati is at 87.6 (national average = 100). Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 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.