Overall
- Grand Forks
- 86.7
Diff -0.7 RPP
Grand Forks vs Brownsville-Harlingen
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Brownsville-Harlingen is 0.8% less expensive than Grand Forks.
0.8% less expensive
Brownsville-Harlingen, TX is 0.8% less expensive than Grand Forks, ND-MN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 86.0 vs 86.7). A $100,000 salary in Grand Forks buys about the same as $99,206 in Brownsville-Harlingen; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 86.7 (Grand Forks) vs 86.0 (Brownsville-Harlingen)
- $100k in Grand Forks ≈ $99,206 purchasing power in Brownsville-Harlingen
- Services drives the gap (+4.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair ND:TX 86.7→86.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE ND × 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.
Grand Forks
86.7
Cost Index
Brownsville-Harlingen
86.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Grand Forks, ND-MN and Brownsville-Harlingen, TX are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.7 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Brownsville-Harlingen is 4.1 points higher. But services 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 Grand Forks to $99,206 in Brownsville-Harlingen, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Grand Forks
- 95.6
Diff -1.9 RPP
Services
- Grand Forks
- 77.1
Diff +4.1 RPP
Rents
- Grand Forks
- 59.7
Diff -1.9 RPP
| Category | Grand Forks | Brownsville-Harlingen | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.7 | 86.0 | -0.7 |
| Goods | 95.6 | 93.8 | -1.9 |
| Services | 77.1 | 81.2 | +4.1 |
| Rents | 59.7 | 57.7 | -1.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Grand Forks 86.7
Brownsville-Harlingen 86.0
Goods
Grand Forks 95.6
Brownsville-Harlingen 93.8
Services
Grand Forks 77.1
Brownsville-Harlingen 81.2
Rents
Grand Forks 59.7
Brownsville-Harlingen 57.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Grand Forks would need to be in Brownsville-Harlingen for the same purchasing power:
| In Grand Forks | In Brownsville-Harlingen | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,603 | $-397 |
| $75,000 | $74,405 | $-595 |
| $100,000 | $99,206 | $-794 |
| $150,000 | $148,809 | $-1,191 |
$ in Grand Forks = in Brownsville-Harlingen
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.7 → 86.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Brownsville-Harlingen more expensive than Grand Forks?
Brownsville-Harlingen is 0.8% less expensive than Grand Forks. The overall cost index is 86.0 vs 86.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Brownsville-Harlingen equals $100K in Grand Forks?
A $100,000 salary in Grand Forks has the same purchasing power as $99,206 in Brownsville-Harlingen. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Grand Forks and Brownsville-Harlingen?
Rents in Grand Forks are indexed at 59.7 while Brownsville-Harlingen is at 57.7 (national average = 100). Grand Forks 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.