Overall
- Fairbanks-College
- 103.2
- Jacksonville
- 99.5
Diff -3.7 RPP
Fairbanks-College vs Jacksonville
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Jacksonville is 3.6% less expensive than Fairbanks-College.
3.6% less expensive
Jacksonville, FL is 3.6% less expensive than Fairbanks-College, AK on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 99.5 vs 103.2). A $100,000 salary in Fairbanks-College buys about the same as $96,392 in Jacksonville; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 103.2 (Fairbanks-College) vs 99.5 (Jacksonville)
- $100k in Fairbanks-College ≈ $96,392 purchasing power in Jacksonville
- Services drives the gap (-32.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AK:FL 103.2→99.5
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE AK × FL
- 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
- Fairbanks-College
- 107.3
- Jacksonville
- 96.2
Diff -11.1 RPP
Services
- Fairbanks-College
- 119.8
- Jacksonville
- 87.5
Diff -32.3 RPP
Rents
- Fairbanks-College
- 92.6
- Jacksonville
- 109.8
Diff +17.2 RPP
| Category | Fairbanks-College | Jacksonville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.2 | 99.5 | -3.7 |
| Goods | 107.3 | 96.2 | -11.1 |
| Services | 119.8 | 87.5 | -32.3 |
| Rents | 92.6 | 109.8 | +17.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fairbanks-College 103.2
Jacksonville 99.5
Goods
Fairbanks-College 107.3
Jacksonville 96.2
Services
Fairbanks-College 119.8
Jacksonville 87.5
Rents
Fairbanks-College 92.6
Jacksonville 109.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Jacksonville is 32.3 points lower. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Jacksonville, FL is 3.6% less expensive than Fairbanks-College, AK, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.7-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Fairbanks-College is above 100 while Jacksonville 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Fairbanks-College to $96,392 in Jacksonville, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Fairbanks-College
103.2
Cost Index
Jacksonville
99.5
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fairbanks-College would need to be in Jacksonville for the same purchasing power:
| In Fairbanks-College | In Jacksonville | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,196 | $-1,804 |
| $75,000 | $72,294 | $-2,706 |
| $100,000 | $96,392 | $-3,608 |
| $150,000 | $144,588 | $-5,412 |
$ in Fairbanks-College = in Jacksonville
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.2 → 99.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Jacksonville more expensive than Fairbanks-College?
Jacksonville is 3.6% less expensive than Fairbanks-College. The overall cost index is 99.5 vs 103.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Jacksonville equals $100K in Fairbanks-College?
A $100,000 salary in Fairbanks-College has the same purchasing power as $96,392 in Jacksonville. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fairbanks-College and Jacksonville?
Rents in Fairbanks-College are indexed at 92.6 while Jacksonville is at 109.8 (national average = 100). Jacksonville 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.