Overall
Diff -0.3 RPP
Des Moines-West Des Moines vs Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers is 0.4% less expensive than Des Moines-West Des Moines.
0.4% less expensive
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR is 0.4% less expensive than Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.4 vs 91.7). A $100,000 salary in Des Moines-West Des Moines buys about the same as $99,621 in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 91.7 (Des Moines-West Des Moines) vs 91.4 (Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers)
- $100k in Des Moines-West Des Moines ≈ $99,621 purchasing power in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers
- Services drives the gap (-9.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:AR 91.7→91.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IA × AR
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
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.
Des Moines-West Des Moines
91.7
Cost Index
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers
91.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA and Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 9.5 points lower than Des Moines-West Des Moines. 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.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Des Moines-West Des Moines to $99,621 in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -0.2 RPP
Services
Diff -9.5 RPP
Rents
Diff -7.9 RPP
| Category | Des Moines-West Des Moines | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.7 | 91.4 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 93.6 | -0.2 |
| Services | 84.6 | 75.1 | -9.5 |
| Rents | 84.7 | 76.9 | -7.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Des Moines-West Des Moines 91.7
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 91.4
Goods
Des Moines-West Des Moines 93.7
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 93.6
Services
Des Moines-West Des Moines 84.6
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 75.1
Rents
Des Moines-West Des Moines 84.7
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 76.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Des Moines-West Des Moines and Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.6 to 0.3 RPP points. Des Moines-West Des Moines remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 3.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (6.4 to 9.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Des Moines-West Des Moines RPP | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.1 | 92.6 | 2.6 points Des Moines-West Des Moines higher |
| 2012 | 95.5 | 94.3 | 1.2 points Des Moines-West Des Moines higher |
| 2016 | 94.6 | 94.3 | 0.3 points Des Moines-West Des Moines higher |
| 2020 | 93.8 | 92.7 | 1.1 points Des Moines-West Des Moines higher |
| 2024 | 91.7 | 91.4 | 0.3 points Des Moines-West Des Moines 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Des Moines-West Des Moines would need to be in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers for the same purchasing power:
| In Des Moines-West Des Moines | In Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,810 | $-190 |
| $75,000 | $74,715 | $-285 |
| $100,000 | $99,621 | $-379 |
| $150,000 | $149,431 | $-569 |
$ in Des Moines-West Des Moines = in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.7 → 91.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers more expensive than Des Moines-West Des Moines?
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers is 0.4% less expensive than Des Moines-West Des Moines. The overall cost index is 91.4 vs 91.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers equals $100K in Des Moines-West Des Moines?
A $100,000 salary in Des Moines-West Des Moines has the same purchasing power as $99,621 in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Des Moines-West Des Moines and Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers?
Rents in Des Moines-West Des Moines are indexed at 84.7 while Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers is at 76.9 (national average = 100). Des Moines-West Des Moines 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.