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Hot Springs vs Alexandria

Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Alexandria is 0.1% less expensive than Hot Springs.

0.1% less expensive

Alexandria, LA is 0.1% less expensive than Hot Springs, AR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.7 vs 85.7). A $100,000 salary in Hot Springs buys about the same as $99,949 in Alexandria; the largest component gap is rents.

  • Overall RPP 85.7 (Hot Springs) vs 85.7 (Alexandria)
  • $100k in Hot Springs ≈ $99,949 purchasing power in Alexandria
  • Rents drives the gap (-3.6 RPP points)

RPP parity plate

Pair AR:LA 85.7→85.7

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.

Hot Springs
85.7
Cost Index
Alexandria
85.7
Cost Index

What This Comparison Actually Tells You

Hot Springs, AR and Alexandria, LA 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.

Rents creates the largest separation: Alexandria is 3.6 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 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 Hot Springs corresponds to $99,949 in Alexandria.

Category Breakdown

Visual Comparison

Overall
Hot Springs
85.7
Alexandria
85.7
Goods
Hot Springs
93.6
Alexandria
93.7
Services
Hot Springs
74.3
Alexandria
71.1
Rents
Hot Springs
57.3
Alexandria
53.7

Vertical line = national average (100)

Salary Equivalents

What a salary in Hot Springs would need to be in Alexandria for the same purchasing power:

In Hot Springs In Alexandria Difference
$50,000 $49,974 $-26
$75,000 $74,962 $-38
$100,000 $99,949 $-51
$150,000 $149,923 $-77
$ in Hot Springs = – in Alexandria

Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.7 → 85.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.

Reverse: Alexandria → Hot Springs Hot Springs Details Alexandria Details

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Alexandria more expensive than Hot Springs?

Alexandria is 0.1% less expensive than Hot Springs. The overall cost index is 85.7 vs 85.7 (national average = 100).

What salary in Alexandria equals $100K in Hot Springs?

A $100,000 salary in Hot Springs has the same purchasing power as $99,949 in Alexandria. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.

How do rents compare between Hot Springs and Alexandria?

Rents in Hot Springs are indexed at 57.3 while Alexandria is at 53.7 (national average = 100). Hot Springs has higher rents.

Data sources

Data sourced from official public datasets, Regional Price Parities (2024), index where national average = 100. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCost. See our methodology for details.

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.