Overall
- Birmingham
- 91.6
Diff +0.3 RPP
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers vs Birmingham
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Birmingham is 0.3% more expensive than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers.
0.3% more expensive
Birmingham, AL is 0.3% more expensive than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.6 vs 91.4). A $100,000 salary in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers buys about the same as $100,319 in Birmingham; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 91.4 (Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers) vs 91.6 (Birmingham)
- $100k in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers ≈ $100,319 purchasing power in Birmingham
- Services drives the gap (+8.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AR:AL 91.4→91.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AR × 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.
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers
91.4
Cost Index
Birmingham
91.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR and Birmingham, AL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Birmingham is 8.7 points higher. But 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 Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers to $100,319 in Birmingham, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Birmingham
- 96.4
Diff +2.8 RPP
Services
- Birmingham
- 83.8
Diff +8.7 RPP
Rents
- Birmingham
- 71.9
Diff -5.0 RPP
| Category | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers | Birmingham | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.4 | 91.6 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 96.4 | +2.8 |
| Services | 75.1 | 83.8 | +8.7 |
| Rents | 76.9 | 71.9 | -5.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 91.4
Birmingham 91.6
Goods
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 93.6
Birmingham 96.4
Services
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 75.1
Birmingham 83.8
Rents
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 76.9
Birmingham 71.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers would need to be in Birmingham for the same purchasing power:
| In Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers | In Birmingham | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,159 | +$159 |
| $75,000 | $75,239 | +$239 |
| $100,000 | $100,319 | +$319 |
| $150,000 | $150,478 | +$478 |
$ in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers = in Birmingham
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.4 → 91.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Birmingham more expensive than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers?
Birmingham is 0.3% more expensive than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers. The overall cost index is 91.6 vs 91.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Birmingham equals $100K in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers?
A $100,000 salary in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers has the same purchasing power as $100,319 in Birmingham. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers and Birmingham?
Rents in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers are indexed at 76.9 while Birmingham is at 71.9 (national average = 100). Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 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.