Overall
- Hot Springs
- 85.7
Diff -0.6 RPP
Hot Springs vs Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux is 0.7% less expensive than Hot Springs.
0.7% less expensive
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA is 0.7% less expensive than Hot Springs, AR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.1 vs 85.7). A $100,000 salary in Hot Springs buys about the same as $99,269 in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 85.7 (Hot Springs) vs 85.1 (Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux)
- $100k in Hot Springs ≈ $99,269 purchasing power in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
- Rents drives the gap (-6.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AR:LA 85.7→85.1
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
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
85.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Hot Springs, AR and Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.6 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux is 6.0 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 $99,269 in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Hot Springs
- 93.6
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
- Hot Springs
- 74.3
Diff -3.0 RPP
Rents
- Hot Springs
- 57.3
Diff -6.0 RPP
| Category | Hot Springs | Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.7 | 85.1 | -0.6 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 93.7 | +0.1 |
| Services | 74.3 | 71.3 | -3.0 |
| Rents | 57.3 | 51.3 | -6.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Hot Springs 85.7
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 85.1
Goods
Hot Springs 93.6
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 93.7
Services
Hot Springs 74.3
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 71.3
Rents
Hot Springs 57.3
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 51.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Hot Springs and Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 3.8 to 0.6 RPP points. Hot Springs remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 15.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (12.4 to 3.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Hot Springs RPP | Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 86.7 | 90.5 | 3.8 points Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux higher |
| 2012 | 88.2 | 95.2 | 7.0 points Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux higher |
| 2016 | 88.4 | 95.1 | 6.7 points Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux higher |
| 2020 | 87.2 | 92.2 | 5.0 points Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux higher |
| 2024 | 85.7 | 85.1 | 0.6 points Hot Springs 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 Hot Springs would need to be in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux for the same purchasing power:
| In Hot Springs | In Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,634 | $-366 |
| $75,000 | $74,451 | $-549 |
| $100,000 | $99,269 | $-731 |
| $150,000 | $148,903 | $-1,097 |
$ in Hot Springs = in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.7 → 85.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux more expensive than Hot Springs?
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux is 0.7% less expensive than Hot Springs. The overall cost index is 85.1 vs 85.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux equals $100K in Hot Springs?
A $100,000 salary in Hot Springs has the same purchasing power as $99,269 in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Hot Springs and Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux?
Rents in Hot Springs are indexed at 57.3 while Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux is at 51.3 (national average = 100). Hot Springs 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.