Overall
- Fort Smith
- 85.9
- Johnstown
- 85.9
Diff +0.0 RPP
Fort Smith vs Johnstown
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Johnstown is 0% more expensive than Fort Smith.
0% more expensive
Johnstown, PA is 0% more expensive than Fort Smith, AR-OK on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.9 vs 85.9). A $100,000 salary in Fort Smith buys about the same as $100,048 in Johnstown; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 85.9 (Fort Smith) vs 85.9 (Johnstown)
- $100k in Fort Smith ≈ $100,048 purchasing power in Johnstown
- Services drives the gap (+35.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AR:PA 85.9→85.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AR × PA
- 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.
Fort Smith
85.9
Cost Index
Johnstown
85.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Fort Smith, AR-OK and Johnstown, PA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.0 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Johnstown is 35.1 points higher. But 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 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 $100,048 in Johnstown, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Fort Smith
- 93.6
- Johnstown
- 100.7
Diff +7.1 RPP
Services
- Fort Smith
- 73.8
- Johnstown
- 108.9
Diff +35.1 RPP
Rents
- Fort Smith
- 53.4
- Johnstown
- 42.3
Diff -11.1 RPP
| Category | Fort Smith | Johnstown | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.9 | 85.9 | +0.0 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 100.7 | +7.1 |
| Services | 73.8 | 108.9 | +35.1 |
| Rents | 53.4 | 42.3 | -11.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fort Smith 85.9
Johnstown 85.9
Goods
Fort Smith 93.6
Johnstown 100.7
Services
Fort Smith 73.8
Johnstown 108.9
Rents
Fort Smith 53.4
Johnstown 42.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Fort Smith and Johnstown share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.1 to 0.0 RPP points. Johnstown remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 4.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (30.6 to 35.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Fort Smith RPP | Johnstown RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 90.7 | 90.7 | 0.1 points Johnstown higher |
| 2012 | 89.8 | 86.8 | 3.0 points Fort Smith higher |
| 2016 | 89.3 | 88.7 | 0.6 points Fort Smith higher |
| 2020 | 87.1 | 87.6 | 0.5 points Johnstown higher |
| 2024 | 85.9 | 85.9 | 0.0 points Johnstown 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fort Smith would need to be in Johnstown for the same purchasing power:
| In Fort Smith | In Johnstown | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,024 | +$24 |
| $75,000 | $75,036 | +$36 |
| $100,000 | $100,048 | +$48 |
| $150,000 | $150,072 | +$72 |
$ in Fort Smith = in Johnstown
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.9 → 85.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Johnstown more expensive than Fort Smith?
Johnstown is 0% more expensive than Fort Smith. The overall cost index is 85.9 vs 85.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Johnstown equals $100K in Fort Smith?
A $100,000 salary in Fort Smith has the same purchasing power as $100,048 in Johnstown. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fort Smith and Johnstown?
Rents in Fort Smith are indexed at 53.4 while Johnstown is at 42.3 (national average = 100). Fort Smith 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.