Overall
- Fort Smith
- 85.9
- Enid
- 84.3
Diff -1.6 RPP
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Enid is 1.9% less expensive than Fort Smith.
Enid, OK * is 1.9% less expensive than Fort Smith, AR-OK on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 84.3 vs 85.9). A $100,000 salary in Fort Smith buys about the same as $98,115 in Enid; the largest component gap is rents.
RPP parity plate
Pair AR:OK 85.9→84.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-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, AR-OK and Enid, OK * are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.6 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Enid is 2.1 points lower. But services and goods 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 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 $98,115 in Enid.
Diff -1.6 RPP
Diff +0.2 RPP
Diff +0.6 RPP
Diff -2.1 RPP
| Category | Fort Smith | Enid | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.9 | 84.3 | -1.6 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 93.8 | +0.2 |
| Services | 73.8 | 74.4 | +0.6 |
| Rents | 53.4 | 51.4 | -2.1 |
Vertical line = national average (100)
What a salary in Fort Smith would need to be in Enid for the same purchasing power:
| In Fort Smith | In Enid | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,057 | $-943 |
| $75,000 | $73,586 | $-1,414 |
| $100,000 | $98,115 | $-1,885 |
| $150,000 | $147,172 | $-2,828 |
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.9 → 84.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Enid is 1.9% less expensive than Fort Smith. The overall cost index is 84.3 vs 85.9 (national average = 100).
A $100,000 salary in Fort Smith has the same purchasing power as $98,115 in Enid. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
Rents in Fort Smith are indexed at 53.4 while Enid is at 51.4 (national average = 100). Fort Smith has higher rents.
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.