Overall
- Dover
- 97.5
Diff +5.6 RPP
Dover vs Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is 5.7% more expensive than Dover.
5.7% more expensive
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX is 5.7% more expensive than Dover, DE on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.1 vs 97.5). A $100,000 salary in Dover buys about the same as $105,726 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 97.5 (Dover) vs 103.1 (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington)
- $100k in Dover ≈ $105,726 purchasing power in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
- Rents drives the gap (+22.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair DE:TX 97.5→103.1
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE DE × TX
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Dover
- 96.4
Diff +6.5 RPP
Services
- Dover
- 97.2
Diff -6.5 RPP
Rents
- Dover
- 95.9
Diff +22.0 RPP
| Category | Dover | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.5 | 103.1 | +5.6 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 102.8 | +6.5 |
| Services | 97.2 | 90.7 | -6.5 |
| Rents | 95.9 | 117.9 | +22.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Dover 97.5
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 103.1
Goods
Dover 96.4
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 102.8
Services
Dover 97.2
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 90.7
Rents
Dover 95.9
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 117.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is 22.0 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX is 5.7% more expensive than Dover, DE, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.6-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is above 100 while Dover is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 Dover corresponds to $105,726 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington.
Dover
97.5
Cost Index
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
103.1
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Dover would need to be in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington for the same purchasing power:
| In Dover | In Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,863 | +$2,863 |
| $75,000 | $79,294 | +$4,294 |
| $100,000 | $105,726 | +$5,726 |
| $150,000 | $158,589 | +$8,589 |
$ in Dover = in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.5 → 103.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Dover and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 4.6 to 5.6 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 5.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (1.3 to 6.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Dover RPP | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 96.8 | 101.4 | 4.6 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2012 | 97.3 | 100.8 | 3.4 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2016 | 100.3 | 98.0 | 2.3 points Dover higher |
| 2020 | 93.9 | 104.5 | 10.7 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2024 | 97.5 | 103.1 | 5.6 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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington more expensive than Dover?
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is 5.7% more expensive than Dover. The overall cost index is 103.1 vs 97.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington equals $100K in Dover?
A $100,000 salary in Dover has the same purchasing power as $105,726 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Dover and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
Rents in Dover are indexed at 95.9 while Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is at 117.9 (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.