Overall
- Fort Smith
- 85.9
- Eagle Pass
- 83.8
Diff -2.1 RPP
Fort Smith vs Eagle Pass
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Eagle Pass is 2.4% less expensive than Fort Smith.
2.4% less expensive
Eagle Pass, TX is 2.4% less expensive than Fort Smith, AR-OK on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 83.8 vs 85.9). A $100,000 salary in Fort Smith buys about the same as $97,575 in Eagle Pass; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 85.9 (Fort Smith) vs 83.8 (Eagle Pass)
- $100k in Fort Smith ≈ $97,575 purchasing power in Eagle Pass
- Services drives the gap (+8.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AR:TX 85.9→83.8
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE AR × TX
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Fort Smith
- 93.6
- Eagle Pass
- 93.8
Diff +0.2 RPP
Services
- Fort Smith
- 73.8
- Eagle Pass
- 81.9
Diff +8.1 RPP
Rents
- Fort Smith
- 53.4
- Eagle Pass
- 53.7
Diff +0.2 RPP
| Category | Fort Smith | Eagle Pass | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.9 | 83.8 | -2.1 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 93.8 | +0.2 |
| Services | 73.8 | 81.9 | +8.1 |
| Rents | 53.4 | 53.7 | +0.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fort Smith 85.9
Eagle Pass 83.8
Goods
Fort Smith 93.6
Eagle Pass 93.8
Services
Fort Smith 73.8
Eagle Pass 81.9
Rents
Fort Smith 53.4
Eagle Pass 53.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Eagle Pass is 8.1 points higher. But services and rents and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Eagle Pass, TX is 2.4% less expensive than Fort Smith, AR-OK, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.1-point overall gap.
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 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 $97,575 in Eagle Pass, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Fort Smith
85.9
Cost Index
Eagle Pass
83.8
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fort Smith would need to be in Eagle Pass for the same purchasing power:
| In Fort Smith | In Eagle Pass | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,787 | $-1,213 |
| $75,000 | $73,181 | $-1,819 |
| $100,000 | $97,575 | $-2,425 |
| $150,000 | $146,362 | $-3,638 |
$ in Fort Smith = in Eagle Pass
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.9 → 83.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Eagle Pass more expensive than Fort Smith?
Eagle Pass is 2.4% less expensive than Fort Smith. The overall cost index is 83.8 vs 85.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Eagle Pass equals $100K in Fort Smith?
A $100,000 salary in Fort Smith has the same purchasing power as $97,575 in Eagle Pass. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fort Smith and Eagle Pass?
Rents in Fort Smith are indexed at 53.4 while Eagle Pass is at 53.7 (national average = 100). Eagle Pass 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.