Overall
- Colorado Springs
- 100.7
Diff -2.4 RPP
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington vs Colorado Springs
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Colorado Springs is 2.3% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington.
2.3% less expensive
Colorado Springs, CO is 2.3% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.7 vs 103.1). A $100,000 salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington buys about the same as $97,688 in Colorado Springs; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 103.1 (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington) vs 100.7 (Colorado Springs)
- $100k in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ≈ $97,688 purchasing power in Colorado Springs
- Services drives the gap (-7.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:CO 103.1→100.7
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE TX × CO
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
Colorado Springs, CO is 2.3% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.4-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Colorado Springs 7.5 points lower than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington. 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.
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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington to $97,688 in Colorado Springs, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Colorado Springs share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 3.4 to 2.4 RPP points. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 21.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (28.7 to 7.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington RPP | Colorado Springs RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 101.4 | 98.0 | 3.4 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2012 | 100.8 | 102.2 | 1.4 points Colorado Springs higher |
| 2016 | 98.0 | 99.0 | 0.9 points Colorado Springs higher |
| 2020 | 104.5 | 98.6 | 5.9 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2024 | 103.1 | 100.7 | 2.4 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Colorado Springs
- 96.1
Diff -6.8 RPP
Services
- Colorado Springs
- 83.2
Diff -7.5 RPP
Rents
- Colorado Springs
- 116.2
Diff -1.7 RPP
| Category | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Colorado Springs | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.1 | 100.7 | -2.4 |
| Goods | 102.8 | 96.1 | -6.8 |
| Services | 90.7 | 83.2 | -7.5 |
| Rents | 117.9 | 116.2 | -1.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 103.1
Colorado Springs 100.7
Goods
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 102.8
Colorado Springs 96.1
Services
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 90.7
Colorado Springs 83.2
Rents
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 117.9
Colorado Springs 116.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington would need to be in Colorado Springs for the same purchasing power:
| In Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | In Colorado Springs | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,844 | $-1,156 |
| $75,000 | $73,266 | $-1,734 |
| $100,000 | $97,688 | $-2,312 |
| $150,000 | $146,533 | $-3,467 |
$ in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington = in Colorado Springs
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.1 → 100.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
103.1
Cost Index
Colorado Springs
100.7
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Colorado Springs more expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
Colorado Springs is 2.3% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington. The overall cost index is 100.7 vs 103.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Colorado Springs equals $100K in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
A $100,000 salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington has the same purchasing power as $97,688 in Colorado Springs. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Colorado Springs?
Rents in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington are indexed at 117.9 while Colorado Springs is at 116.2 (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.