Overall
- Denver-Aurora-Centennial
- 105.8
Diff +2.7 RPP
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington vs Denver-Aurora-Centennial
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Denver-Aurora-Centennial is 2.6% more expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington.
2.6% more expensive
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO is 2.6% more expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 105.8 vs 103.1). A $100,000 salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington buys about the same as $102,611 in Denver-Aurora-Centennial; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.1 (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington) vs 105.8 (Denver-Aurora-Centennial)
- $100k in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ≈ $102,611 purchasing power in Denver-Aurora-Centennial
- Rents drives the gap (+29.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:CO 103.1→105.8
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE TX × CO
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- 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
- Denver-Aurora-Centennial
- 101.0
Diff -1.9 RPP
Services
Diff -2.9 RPP
Rents
- Denver-Aurora-Centennial
- 146.9
Diff +29.0 RPP
| Category | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Denver-Aurora-Centennial | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.1 | 105.8 | +2.7 |
| Goods | 102.8 | 101.0 | -1.9 |
| Services | 90.7 | 87.9 | -2.9 |
| Rents | 117.9 | 146.9 | +29.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 103.1
Denver-Aurora-Centennial 105.8
Goods
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 102.8
Denver-Aurora-Centennial 101.0
Services
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 90.7
Denver-Aurora-Centennial 87.9
Rents
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 117.9
Denver-Aurora-Centennial 146.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Denver-Aurora-Centennial is 29.0 points higher. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO is 2.6% more expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.7-point overall gap.
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.
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 $102,611 in Denver-Aurora-Centennial.
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
103.1
Cost Index
Denver-Aurora-Centennial
105.8
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington would need to be in Denver-Aurora-Centennial for the same purchasing power:
| In Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | In Denver-Aurora-Centennial | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,306 | +$1,306 |
| $75,000 | $76,958 | +$1,958 |
| $100,000 | $102,611 | +$2,611 |
| $150,000 | $153,917 | +$3,917 |
$ in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington = in Denver-Aurora-Centennial
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.1 → 105.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Denver-Aurora-Centennial share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 4.4 to 2.7 RPP points. Denver-Aurora-Centennial remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 26.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (29.3 to 2.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington RPP | Denver-Aurora-Centennial RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 101.4 | 105.8 | 4.4 points Denver-Aurora-Centennial higher |
| 2012 | 100.8 | 105.1 | 4.3 points Denver-Aurora-Centennial higher |
| 2016 | 98.0 | 105.2 | 7.1 points Denver-Aurora-Centennial higher |
| 2020 | 104.5 | 109.4 | 4.8 points Denver-Aurora-Centennial higher |
| 2024 | 103.1 | 105.8 | 2.7 points Denver-Aurora-Centennial 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Denver-Aurora-Centennial more expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
Denver-Aurora-Centennial is 2.6% more expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington. The overall cost index is 105.8 vs 103.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Denver-Aurora-Centennial equals $100K in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
A $100,000 salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington has the same purchasing power as $102,611 in Denver-Aurora-Centennial. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Denver-Aurora-Centennial?
Rents in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington are indexed at 117.9 while Denver-Aurora-Centennial is at 146.9 (national average = 100). Denver-Aurora-Centennial 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.