Overall
- El Paso
- 89.9
- Montgomery
- 89.7
Diff -0.2 RPP
El Paso vs Montgomery
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Montgomery is 0.3% less expensive than El Paso.
0.3% less expensive
Montgomery, AL is 0.3% less expensive than El Paso, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 89.7 vs 89.9). A $100,000 salary in El Paso buys about the same as $99,744 in Montgomery; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 89.9 (El Paso) vs 89.7 (Montgomery)
- $100k in El Paso ≈ $99,744 purchasing power in Montgomery
- Rents drives the gap (-6.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:AL 89.9→89.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × AL
- 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.
El Paso
89.9
Cost Index
Montgomery
89.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
El Paso, TX and Montgomery, AL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Montgomery is 6.9 points lower. But goods and services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
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 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 El Paso corresponds to $99,744 in Montgomery.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- El Paso
- 93.8
- Montgomery
- 96.4
Diff +2.6 RPP
Services
- El Paso
- 82.6
- Montgomery
- 84.9
Diff +2.3 RPP
Rents
- El Paso
- 71.2
- Montgomery
- 64.3
Diff -6.9 RPP
| Category | El Paso | Montgomery | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 89.9 | 89.7 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 96.4 | +2.6 |
| Services | 82.6 | 84.9 | +2.3 |
| Rents | 71.2 | 64.3 | -6.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
El Paso 89.9
Montgomery 89.7
Goods
El Paso 93.8
Montgomery 96.4
Services
El Paso 82.6
Montgomery 84.9
Rents
El Paso 71.2
Montgomery 64.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
El Paso and Montgomery share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 1.1 to 0.2 RPP points. El Paso remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 4.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (1.6 to 2.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | El Paso RPP | Montgomery RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 92.5 | 91.3 | 1.1 points El Paso higher |
| 2012 | 95.6 | 93.3 | 2.3 points El Paso higher |
| 2016 | 95.2 | 93.1 | 2.1 points El Paso higher |
| 2020 | 92.7 | 87.5 | 5.2 points El Paso higher |
| 2024 | 89.9 | 89.7 | 0.2 points El Paso 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 El Paso would need to be in Montgomery for the same purchasing power:
| In El Paso | In Montgomery | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,872 | $-128 |
| $75,000 | $74,808 | $-192 |
| $100,000 | $99,744 | $-256 |
| $150,000 | $149,616 | $-384 |
$ in El Paso = in Montgomery
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (89.9 → 89.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Montgomery more expensive than El Paso?
Montgomery is 0.3% less expensive than El Paso. The overall cost index is 89.7 vs 89.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Montgomery equals $100K in El Paso?
A $100,000 salary in El Paso has the same purchasing power as $99,744 in Montgomery. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between El Paso and Montgomery?
Rents in El Paso are indexed at 71.2 while Montgomery is at 64.3 (national average = 100). El Paso 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.