Overall
- Midland
- 95.8
Diff -7.3 RPP
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington vs Midland
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Midland is 7.1% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington.
7.1% less expensive
Midland, TX is 7.1% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 95.8 vs 103.1). A $100,000 salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington buys about the same as $92,912 in Midland; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.1 (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington) vs 95.8 (Midland)
- $100k in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ≈ $92,912 purchasing power in Midland
- Rents drives the gap (-16.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:TX 103.1→95.8
TIER-NEAR · SAME-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- SAME-STATE Same state · TX
- 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 Midland for the same purchasing power:
| In Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | In Midland | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,456 | $-3,544 |
| $75,000 | $69,684 | $-5,316 |
| $100,000 | $92,912 | $-7,088 |
| $150,000 | $139,368 | $-10,632 |
$ in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington = in Midland
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.1 → 95.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Midland, TX is 7.1% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 7.3-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is above 100 while Midland is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Midland 16.4 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 $92,912 in Midland.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Midland
- 93.8
Diff -9.1 RPP
Services
- Midland
- 83.2
Diff -7.5 RPP
Rents
- Midland
- 101.5
Diff -16.4 RPP
| Category | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Midland | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.1 | 95.8 | -7.3 |
| Goods | 102.8 | 93.8 | -9.1 |
| Services | 90.7 | 83.2 | -7.5 |
| Rents | 117.9 | 101.5 | -16.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 103.1
Midland 95.8
Goods
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 102.8
Midland 93.8
Services
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 90.7
Midland 83.2
Rents
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 117.9
Midland 101.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
103.1
Cost Index
Midland
95.8
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Midland share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 4.8 to 7.3 RPP points. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 6.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (2.6 to 9.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington RPP | Midland RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 101.4 | 96.5 | 4.8 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2012 | 100.8 | 100.3 | 0.5 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2016 | 98.0 | 102.6 | 4.6 points Midland higher |
| 2020 | 104.5 | 95.8 | 8.7 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2024 | 103.1 | 95.8 | 7.3 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 Midland more expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
Midland is 7.1% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington. The overall cost index is 95.8 vs 103.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Midland equals $100K in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
A $100,000 salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington has the same purchasing power as $92,912 in Midland. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Midland?
Rents in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington are indexed at 117.9 while Midland is at 101.5 (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.