Overall
Diff -7.5 RPP
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington vs Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood is 7.3% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington.
7.3% less expensive
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI is 7.3% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 95.5 vs 103.1). A $100,000 salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington buys about the same as $92,682 in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.1 (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington) vs 95.5 (Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood)
- $100k in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ≈ $92,682 purchasing power in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood
- Rents drives the gap (-31.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:MI 103.1→95.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE TX × MI
- 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
Diff -9.1 RPP
Services
Diff +3.1 RPP
Rents
Diff -31.3 RPP
| Category | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.1 | 95.5 | -7.5 |
| Goods | 102.8 | 93.7 | -9.1 |
| Services | 90.7 | 93.8 | +3.1 |
| Rents | 117.9 | 86.6 | -31.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 103.1
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 95.5
Goods
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 102.8
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 93.7
Services
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 90.7
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 93.8
Rents
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 117.9
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 86.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood is 31.3 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI is 7.3% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 7.5-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is above 100 while Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood 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 $92,682 in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood.
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
103.1
Cost Index
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood
95.5
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington would need to be in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood for the same purchasing power:
| In Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | In Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,341 | $-3,659 |
| $75,000 | $69,512 | $-5,488 |
| $100,000 | $92,682 | $-7,318 |
| $150,000 | $139,023 | $-10,977 |
$ in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington = in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.1 → 95.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood more expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood is 7.3% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington. The overall cost index is 95.5 vs 103.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood equals $100K in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
A $100,000 salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington has the same purchasing power as $92,682 in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood?
Rents in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington are indexed at 117.9 while Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood is at 86.6 (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.