Overall
- Elizabethtown
- 90.6
- El Paso
- 89.9
Diff -0.7 RPP
Elizabethtown vs El Paso
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. El Paso is 0.7% less expensive than Elizabethtown.
0.7% less expensive
El Paso, TX is 0.7% less expensive than Elizabethtown, KY on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 89.9 vs 90.6). A $100,000 salary in Elizabethtown buys about the same as $99,271 in El Paso; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 90.6 (Elizabethtown) vs 89.9 (El Paso)
- $100k in Elizabethtown ≈ $99,271 purchasing power in El Paso
- Services drives the gap (+8.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair KY:TX 90.6→89.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE KY × 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.
Elizabethtown
90.6
Cost Index
El Paso
89.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Elizabethtown, KY and El Paso, TX are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.7 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: El Paso is 8.0 points higher. But services and rents 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Elizabethtown to $99,271 in El Paso, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Elizabethtown
- 96.2
- El Paso
- 93.8
Diff -2.5 RPP
Services
- Elizabethtown
- 74.6
- El Paso
- 82.6
Diff +8.0 RPP
Rents
- Elizabethtown
- 66.7
- El Paso
- 71.2
Diff +4.6 RPP
| Category | Elizabethtown | El Paso | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 90.6 | 89.9 | -0.7 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 93.8 | -2.5 |
| Services | 74.6 | 82.6 | +8.0 |
| Rents | 66.7 | 71.2 | +4.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Elizabethtown 90.6
El Paso 89.9
Goods
Elizabethtown 96.2
El Paso 93.8
Services
Elizabethtown 74.6
El Paso 82.6
Rents
Elizabethtown 66.7
El Paso 71.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Elizabethtown would need to be in El Paso for the same purchasing power:
| In Elizabethtown | In El Paso | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,636 | $-364 |
| $75,000 | $74,453 | $-547 |
| $100,000 | $99,271 | $-729 |
| $150,000 | $148,907 | $-1,093 |
$ in Elizabethtown = in El Paso
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (90.6 → 89.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is El Paso more expensive than Elizabethtown?
El Paso is 0.7% less expensive than Elizabethtown. The overall cost index is 89.9 vs 90.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in El Paso equals $100K in Elizabethtown?
A $100,000 salary in Elizabethtown has the same purchasing power as $99,271 in El Paso. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Elizabethtown and El Paso?
Rents in Elizabethtown are indexed at 66.7 while El Paso is at 71.2 (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.