Overall
Diff -5.9 RPP
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington vs Lakeland-Winter Haven
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lakeland-Winter Haven is 5.8% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington.
5.8% less expensive
Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL is 5.8% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.1 vs 103.1). A $100,000 salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington buys about the same as $94,229 in Lakeland-Winter Haven; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.1 (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington) vs 97.1 (Lakeland-Winter Haven)
- $100k in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ≈ $94,229 purchasing power in Lakeland-Winter Haven
- Rents drives the gap (-21.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:FL 103.1→97.1
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE TX × FL
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington would need to be in Lakeland-Winter Haven for the same purchasing power:
| In Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | In Lakeland-Winter Haven | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,115 | $-2,885 |
| $75,000 | $70,672 | $-4,328 |
| $100,000 | $94,229 | $-5,771 |
| $150,000 | $141,344 | $-8,656 |
$ in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington = in Lakeland-Winter Haven
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.1 → 97.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL is 5.8% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.9-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is above 100 while Lakeland-Winter Haven is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Lakeland-Winter Haven 21.9 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 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 $94,229 in Lakeland-Winter Haven.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -6.6 RPP
Services
Diff -3.8 RPP
Rents
Diff -21.9 RPP
| Category | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Lakeland-Winter Haven | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.1 | 97.1 | -5.9 |
| Goods | 102.8 | 96.2 | -6.6 |
| Services | 90.7 | 86.9 | -3.8 |
| Rents | 117.9 | 95.9 | -21.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 103.1
Lakeland-Winter Haven 97.1
Goods
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 102.8
Lakeland-Winter Haven 96.2
Services
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 90.7
Lakeland-Winter Haven 86.9
Rents
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 117.9
Lakeland-Winter Haven 95.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
103.1
Cost Index
Lakeland-Winter Haven
97.1
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Lakeland-Winter Haven share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 4.4 to 5.9 RPP points. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 8.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (13.3 to 21.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington RPP | Lakeland-Winter Haven RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 101.4 | 96.9 | 4.4 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2012 | 100.8 | 96.1 | 4.7 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2016 | 98.0 | 96.4 | 1.6 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2020 | 104.5 | 93.3 | 11.3 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2024 | 103.1 | 97.1 | 5.9 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lakeland-Winter Haven more expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
Lakeland-Winter Haven is 5.8% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington. The overall cost index is 97.1 vs 103.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lakeland-Winter Haven equals $100K in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
A $100,000 salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington has the same purchasing power as $94,229 in Lakeland-Winter Haven. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Lakeland-Winter Haven?
Rents in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington are indexed at 117.9 while Lakeland-Winter Haven is at 95.9 (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.