Overall
- Chattanooga
- 91.5
Diff +0.1 RPP
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers vs Chattanooga
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Chattanooga is 0.1% more expensive than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers.
0.1% more expensive
Chattanooga, TN-GA is 0.1% more expensive than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.5 vs 91.4). A $100,000 salary in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers buys about the same as $100,122 in Chattanooga; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 91.4 (Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers) vs 91.5 (Chattanooga)
- $100k in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers ≈ $100,122 purchasing power in Chattanooga
- Goods drives the gap (+2.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AR:TN 91.4→91.5
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AR × TN
- 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
Chattanooga
91.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR and Chattanooga, TN-GA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Goods creates the largest separation: Chattanooga is 2.4 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 goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $100,122 in Chattanooga as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Chattanooga
- 96.0
Diff +2.4 RPP
Services
- Chattanooga
- 74.2
Diff -0.9 RPP
Rents
- Chattanooga
- 76.5
Diff -0.3 RPP
| Category | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers | Chattanooga | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.4 | 91.5 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 96.0 | +2.4 |
| Services | 75.1 | 74.2 | -0.9 |
| Rents | 76.9 | 76.5 | -0.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 91.4
Chattanooga 91.5
Goods
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 93.6
Chattanooga 96.0
Services
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 75.1
Chattanooga 74.2
Rents
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers 76.9
Chattanooga 76.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers would need to be in Chattanooga for the same purchasing power:
| In Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers | In Chattanooga | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,061 | +$61 |
| $75,000 | $75,091 | +$91 |
| $100,000 | $100,122 | +$122 |
| $150,000 | $150,182 | +$182 |
$ in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers = in Chattanooga
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.4 → 91.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Reverse: Chattanooga → Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Details
Chattanooga Details
Also Compare
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Chattanooga more expensive than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers?
Chattanooga is 0.1% more expensive than Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers. The overall cost index is 91.5 vs 91.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Chattanooga equals $100K in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers?
A $100,000 salary in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers has the same purchasing power as $100,122 in Chattanooga. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers and Chattanooga?
Rents in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers are indexed at 76.9 while Chattanooga is at 76.5 (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.