Overall
- Fort Smith
- 85.9
- Cape Girardeau
- 86.1
Diff +0.2 RPP
Fort Smith vs Cape Girardeau
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Cape Girardeau is 0.2% more expensive than Fort Smith.
0.2% more expensive
Cape Girardeau, MO-IL is 0.2% more expensive than Fort Smith, AR-OK on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 86.1 vs 85.9). A $100,000 salary in Fort Smith buys about the same as $100,221 in Cape Girardeau; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 85.9 (Fort Smith) vs 86.1 (Cape Girardeau)
- $100k in Fort Smith ≈ $100,221 purchasing power in Cape Girardeau
- Services drives the gap (+11.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AR:MO 85.9→86.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AR × MO
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
Fort Smith
85.9
Cost Index
Cape Girardeau
86.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Fort Smith, AR-OK and Cape Girardeau, MO-IL 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.
Services leads the difference, with Cape Girardeau 11.8 points higher than Fort Smith. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
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 Fort Smith to $100,221 in Cape Girardeau, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Fort Smith
- 93.6
- Cape Girardeau
- 94.2
Diff +0.6 RPP
Services
- Fort Smith
- 73.8
- Cape Girardeau
- 85.6
Diff +11.8 RPP
Rents
- Fort Smith
- 53.4
- Cape Girardeau
- 56.4
Diff +3.0 RPP
| Category | Fort Smith | Cape Girardeau | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.9 | 86.1 | +0.2 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 94.2 | +0.6 |
| Services | 73.8 | 85.6 | +11.8 |
| Rents | 53.4 | 56.4 | +3.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fort Smith 85.9
Cape Girardeau 86.1
Goods
Fort Smith 93.6
Cape Girardeau 94.2
Services
Fort Smith 73.8
Cape Girardeau 85.6
Rents
Fort Smith 53.4
Cape Girardeau 56.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fort Smith would need to be in Cape Girardeau for the same purchasing power:
| In Fort Smith | In Cape Girardeau | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,111 | +$111 |
| $75,000 | $75,166 | +$166 |
| $100,000 | $100,221 | +$221 |
| $150,000 | $150,332 | +$332 |
$ in Fort Smith = in Cape Girardeau
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.9 → 86.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cape Girardeau more expensive than Fort Smith?
Cape Girardeau is 0.2% more expensive than Fort Smith. The overall cost index is 86.1 vs 85.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Cape Girardeau equals $100K in Fort Smith?
A $100,000 salary in Fort Smith has the same purchasing power as $100,221 in Cape Girardeau. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fort Smith and Cape Girardeau?
Rents in Fort Smith are indexed at 53.4 while Cape Girardeau is at 56.4 (national average = 100). Cape Girardeau 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.