Overall
- Rapid City
- 89.2
Diff -13.9 RPP
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington vs Rapid City
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Rapid City is 13.5% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington.
13.5% less expensive
Rapid City, SD is 13.5% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 89.2 vs 103.1). A $100,000 salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington buys about the same as $86,488 in Rapid City; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 103.1 (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington) vs 89.2 (Rapid City)
- $100k in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ≈ $86,488 purchasing power in Rapid City
- Rents drives the gap (-45.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:SD 103.1→89.2
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE TX × SD
- 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 Rapid City for the same purchasing power:
| In Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | In Rapid City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $43,244 | $-6,756 |
| $75,000 | $64,866 | $-10,134 |
| $100,000 | $86,488 | $-13,512 |
| $150,000 | $129,731 | $-20,269 |
$ in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington = in Rapid City
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.1 → 89.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX and Rapid City, SD sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 13.9 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is above 100 while Rapid City is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Rapid City 45.3 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 $86,488 in Rapid City.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Rapid City
- 95.5
Diff -7.4 RPP
Services
- Rapid City
- 79.1
Diff -11.6 RPP
Rents
- Rapid City
- 72.6
Diff -45.3 RPP
| Category | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Rapid City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.1 | 89.2 | -13.9 |
| Goods | 102.8 | 95.5 | -7.4 |
| Services | 90.7 | 79.1 | -11.6 |
| Rents | 117.9 | 72.6 | -45.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 103.1
Rapid City 89.2
Goods
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 102.8
Rapid City 95.5
Services
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 90.7
Rapid City 79.1
Rents
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 117.9
Rapid City 72.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
103.1
Cost Index
Rapid City
89.2
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Rapid City more expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
Rapid City is 13.5% less expensive than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington. The overall cost index is 89.2 vs 103.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Rapid City equals $100K in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
A $100,000 salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington has the same purchasing power as $86,488 in Rapid City. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Rapid City?
Rents in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington are indexed at 117.9 while Rapid City is at 72.6 (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.