Overall
- Fort Smith
- 85.9
- Coeur d'Alene
- 98.3
Diff +12.4 RPP
Fort Smith vs Coeur d'Alene
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Coeur d'Alene is 14.4% more expensive than Fort Smith.
14.4% more expensive
Coeur d'Alene, ID is 14.4% more expensive than Fort Smith, AR-OK on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 85.9). A $100,000 salary in Fort Smith buys about the same as $114,443 in Coeur d'Alene; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 85.9 (Fort Smith) vs 98.3 (Coeur d'Alene)
- $100k in Fort Smith ≈ $114,443 purchasing power in Coeur d'Alene
- Rents drives the gap (+52.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AR:ID 85.9→98.3
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE AR × ID
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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
- Fort Smith
- 93.6
- Coeur d'Alene
- 96.2
Diff +2.6 RPP
Services
- Fort Smith
- 73.8
- Coeur d'Alene
- 70.8
Diff -3.0 RPP
Rents
- Fort Smith
- 53.4
- Coeur d'Alene
- 105.6
Diff +52.2 RPP
| Category | Fort Smith | Coeur d'Alene | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.9 | 98.3 | +12.4 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 96.2 | +2.6 |
| Services | 73.8 | 70.8 | -3.0 |
| Rents | 53.4 | 105.6 | +52.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fort Smith 85.9
Coeur d'Alene 98.3
Goods
Fort Smith 93.6
Coeur d'Alene 96.2
Services
Fort Smith 73.8
Coeur d'Alene 70.8
Rents
Fort Smith 53.4
Coeur d'Alene 105.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Coeur d'Alene is 52.2 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Fort Smith, AR-OK and Coeur d'Alene, ID sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 12.4 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
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.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Fort Smith corresponds to $114,443 in Coeur d'Alene.
Fort Smith
85.9
Cost Index
Coeur d'Alene
98.3
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fort Smith would need to be in Coeur d'Alene for the same purchasing power:
| In Fort Smith | In Coeur d'Alene | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $57,222 | +$7,222 |
| $75,000 | $85,832 | +$10,832 |
| $100,000 | $114,443 | +$14,443 |
| $150,000 | $171,665 | +$21,665 |
$ in Fort Smith = in Coeur d'Alene
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.9 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Fort Smith and Coeur d'Alene share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 7.4 to 12.4 RPP points. Coeur d'Alene remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 26.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (25.9 to 52.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Fort Smith RPP | Coeur d'Alene RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 90.7 | 98.1 | 7.4 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2012 | 89.8 | 94.9 | 5.0 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2016 | 89.3 | 97.5 | 8.2 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2020 | 87.1 | 93.0 | 6.0 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2024 | 85.9 | 98.3 | 12.4 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Coeur d'Alene more expensive than Fort Smith?
Coeur d'Alene is 14.4% more expensive than Fort Smith. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 85.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Coeur d'Alene equals $100K in Fort Smith?
A $100,000 salary in Fort Smith has the same purchasing power as $114,443 in Coeur d'Alene. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fort Smith and Coeur d'Alene?
Rents in Fort Smith are indexed at 53.4 while Coeur d'Alene is at 105.6 (national average = 100). Coeur d'Alene 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.