Overall
Diff -3.1 RPP
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington vs Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville is 3% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington.
3% less expensive
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL is 3% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.0 vs 103.1). A $100,000 salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington buys about the same as $97,007 in Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 103.1 (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington) vs 100.0 (Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville)
- $100k in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ≈ $97,007 purchasing power in Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville
- Goods drives the gap (-6.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:FL 103.1→100.0
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · GOODS-LED · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE TX × FL
- GOODS-LED Goods-led gap
- 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.
How the Price Gap Changed
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 1.4 to 3.1 RPP points. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 9.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (12.6 to 2.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington RPP | Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 101.4 | 99.9 | 1.4 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2012 | 100.8 | 98.0 | 2.8 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2016 | 98.0 | 98.8 | 0.8 points Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville higher |
| 2020 | 104.5 | 96.8 | 7.7 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2024 | 103.1 | 100.0 | 3.1 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL is 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 3.1-point overall gap.
Goods leads the difference, with Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville 6.6 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 goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $97,007 in Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, then replace the national basket with your own.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington would need to be in Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville for the same purchasing power:
| In Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | In Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,504 | $-1,496 |
| $75,000 | $72,756 | $-2,244 |
| $100,000 | $97,007 | $-2,993 |
| $150,000 | $145,511 | $-4,489 |
$ in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington = in Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.1 → 100.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -6.6 RPP
Services
Diff -2.6 RPP
Rents
Diff -6.1 RPP
| Category | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.1 | 100.0 | -3.1 |
| Goods | 102.8 | 96.2 | -6.6 |
| Services | 90.7 | 88.1 | -2.6 |
| Rents | 117.9 | 111.7 | -6.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 103.1
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville 100.0
Goods
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 102.8
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville 96.2
Services
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 90.7
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville 88.1
Rents
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 117.9
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville 111.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
103.1
Cost Index
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville
100.0
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville more expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville is 3% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington. The overall cost index is 100.0 vs 103.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville equals $100K in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
A $100,000 salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington has the same purchasing power as $97,007 in Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville?
Rents in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington are indexed at 117.9 while Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville is at 111.7 (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.