Eagle Pass vs McAllen-Edinburg-Mission

Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission is 2.5% more expensive than Eagle Pass.

2.5% more expensive

McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX is 2.5% more expensive than Eagle Pass, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.9 vs 83.8). A $100,000 salary in Eagle Pass buys about the same as $102,494 in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission; the largest component gap is rents.

  • Overall RPP 83.8 (Eagle Pass) vs 85.9 (McAllen-Edinburg-Mission)
  • $100k in Eagle Pass ≈ $102,494 purchasing power in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission
  • Rents drives the gap (+2.2 RPP points)

RPP parity plate

Pair TX:TX 83.8→85.9

TIER-NEAR · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR

  • TIER-NEAR Near tier
  • SAME-STATE Same state · TX
  • SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
  • 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.

Category Breakdown

Visual Comparison

Overall
Eagle Pass
83.8
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission
85.9
Goods
Eagle Pass
93.8
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission
93.8
Services
Eagle Pass
81.9
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission
81.2
Rents
Eagle Pass
53.7
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission
55.9

Vertical line = national average (100)

What This Comparison Actually Tells You

Rents creates the largest separation: McAllen-Edinburg-Mission is 2.2 points higher. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.

McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX is 2.5% more expensive than Eagle Pass, TX, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.1-point overall gap.

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.

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 Eagle Pass corresponds to $102,494 in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission.

Eagle Pass
83.8
Cost Index
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission
85.9
Cost Index

Salary Equivalents

What a salary in Eagle Pass would need to be in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission for the same purchasing power:

In Eagle Pass In McAllen-Edinburg-Mission Difference
$50,000 $51,247 +$1,247
$75,000 $76,870 +$1,870
$100,000 $102,494 +$2,494
$150,000 $153,741 +$3,741
$ in Eagle Pass = in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission

Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (83.8 → 85.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is McAllen-Edinburg-Mission more expensive than Eagle Pass?

McAllen-Edinburg-Mission is 2.5% more expensive than Eagle Pass. The overall cost index is 85.9 vs 83.8 (national average = 100).

What salary in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission equals $100K in Eagle Pass?

A $100,000 salary in Eagle Pass has the same purchasing power as $102,494 in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.

How do rents compare between Eagle Pass and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission?

Rents in Eagle Pass are indexed at 53.7 while McAllen-Edinburg-Mission is at 55.9 (national average = 100). McAllen-Edinburg-Mission has higher rents.

Data sourced from official public datasets, Regional Price Parities (2024), index where national average = 100. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCost. See our methodology for details.

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.