Overall
- Madison
- 97.3
Diff -5.8 RPP
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington vs Madison
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Madison is 5.6% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington.
5.6% less expensive
Madison, WI is 5.6% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.3 vs 103.1). A $100,000 salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington buys about the same as $94,371 in Madison; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.1 (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington) vs 97.3 (Madison)
- $100k in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ≈ $94,371 purchasing power in Madison
- Rents drives the gap (-18.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:WI 103.1→97.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE TX × WI
- 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 Madison for the same purchasing power:
| In Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | In Madison | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,185 | $-2,815 |
| $75,000 | $70,778 | $-4,222 |
| $100,000 | $94,371 | $-5,629 |
| $150,000 | $141,556 | $-8,444 |
$ in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington = in Madison
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.1 → 97.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Madison, WI is 5.6% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.8-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is above 100 while Madison is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Madison 18.1 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 $94,371 in Madison.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Madison
- 93.8
Diff -9.1 RPP
Services
- Madison
- 89.8
Diff -0.9 RPP
Rents
- Madison
- 99.7
Diff -18.1 RPP
| Category | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Madison | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.1 | 97.3 | -5.8 |
| Goods | 102.8 | 93.8 | -9.1 |
| Services | 90.7 | 89.8 | -0.9 |
| Rents | 117.9 | 99.7 | -18.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 103.1
Madison 97.3
Goods
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 102.8
Madison 93.8
Services
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 90.7
Madison 89.8
Rents
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 117.9
Madison 99.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
103.1
Cost Index
Madison
97.3
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Madison share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 3.2 to 5.8 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 17.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (0.3 to 18.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington RPP | Madison RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 101.4 | 98.1 | 3.2 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2012 | 100.8 | 97.4 | 3.4 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2016 | 98.0 | 95.9 | 2.2 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2020 | 104.5 | 95.9 | 8.7 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2024 | 103.1 | 97.3 | 5.8 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 Madison more expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
Madison is 5.6% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington. The overall cost index is 97.3 vs 103.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Madison equals $100K in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
A $100,000 salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington has the same purchasing power as $94,371 in Madison. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Madison?
Rents in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington are indexed at 117.9 while Madison is at 99.7 (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.