Overall
- Fort Smith
- 85.9
Diff -1.1 RPP
Fort Smith vs Shreveport-Bossier City
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Shreveport-Bossier City is 1.3% less expensive than Fort Smith.
1.3% less expensive
Shreveport-Bossier City, LA is 1.3% less expensive than Fort Smith, AR-OK on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 84.8 vs 85.9). A $100,000 salary in Fort Smith buys about the same as $98,694 in Shreveport-Bossier City; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 85.9 (Fort Smith) vs 84.8 (Shreveport-Bossier City)
- $100k in Fort Smith ≈ $98,694 purchasing power in Shreveport-Bossier City
- Services drives the gap (-1.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AR:LA 85.9→84.8
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AR × LA
- 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
Shreveport-Bossier City
84.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Fort Smith, AR-OK and Shreveport-Bossier City, LA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Shreveport-Bossier City is 1.2 points lower. But 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 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 $98,694 in Shreveport-Bossier City, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Fort Smith
- 93.6
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
- Fort Smith
- 73.8
Diff -1.2 RPP
Rents
- Fort Smith
- 53.4
Diff -1.2 RPP
| Category | Fort Smith | Shreveport-Bossier City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.9 | 84.8 | -1.1 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 93.7 | +0.1 |
| Services | 73.8 | 72.6 | -1.2 |
| Rents | 53.4 | 52.3 | -1.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fort Smith 85.9
Shreveport-Bossier City 84.8
Goods
Fort Smith 93.6
Shreveport-Bossier City 93.7
Services
Fort Smith 73.8
Shreveport-Bossier City 72.6
Rents
Fort Smith 53.4
Shreveport-Bossier City 52.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fort Smith would need to be in Shreveport-Bossier City for the same purchasing power:
| In Fort Smith | In Shreveport-Bossier City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,347 | $-653 |
| $75,000 | $74,020 | $-980 |
| $100,000 | $98,694 | $-1,306 |
| $150,000 | $148,040 | $-1,960 |
$ in Fort Smith = in Shreveport-Bossier City
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.9 → 84.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Shreveport-Bossier City more expensive than Fort Smith?
Shreveport-Bossier City is 1.3% less expensive than Fort Smith. The overall cost index is 84.8 vs 85.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Shreveport-Bossier City equals $100K in Fort Smith?
A $100,000 salary in Fort Smith has the same purchasing power as $98,694 in Shreveport-Bossier City. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fort Smith and Shreveport-Bossier City?
Rents in Fort Smith are indexed at 53.4 while Shreveport-Bossier City is at 52.3 (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.