Overall
- Hot Springs
- 85.7
- Jonesboro
- 85.9
Diff +0.1 RPP
Hot Springs vs Jonesboro
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Jonesboro is 0.2% more expensive than Hot Springs.
0.2% more expensive
Jonesboro, AR is 0.2% more expensive than Hot Springs, AR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.9 vs 85.7). A $100,000 salary in Hot Springs buys about the same as $100,170 in Jonesboro; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 85.7 (Hot Springs) vs 85.9 (Jonesboro)
- $100k in Hot Springs ≈ $100,170 purchasing power in Jonesboro
- Rents drives the gap (-3.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AR:AR 85.7→85.9
PHOTO-FINISH · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- SAME-STATE Same state · AR
- 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
Jonesboro
85.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Hot Springs, AR and Jonesboro, AR are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Jonesboro is 3.4 points lower. But rents and 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 $100,170 in Jonesboro.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Hot Springs
- 93.6
- Jonesboro
- 93.6
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
- Hot Springs
- 74.3
- Jonesboro
- 75.0
Diff +0.7 RPP
Rents
- Hot Springs
- 57.3
- Jonesboro
- 53.8
Diff -3.4 RPP
| Category | Hot Springs | Jonesboro | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.7 | 85.9 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 93.6 | 0.0 |
| Services | 74.3 | 75.0 | +0.7 |
| Rents | 57.3 | 53.8 | -3.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Hot Springs 85.7
Jonesboro 85.9
Goods
Hot Springs 93.6
Jonesboro 93.6
Services
Hot Springs 74.3
Jonesboro 75.0
Rents
Hot Springs 57.3
Jonesboro 53.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Hot Springs and Jonesboro share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.4 to 0.1 RPP points. Jonesboro remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 6.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (9.5 to 3.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Hot Springs RPP | Jonesboro RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 86.7 | 84.2 | 2.4 points Hot Springs higher |
| 2012 | 88.2 | 85.8 | 2.3 points Hot Springs higher |
| 2016 | 88.4 | 84.8 | 3.6 points Hot Springs higher |
| 2020 | 87.2 | 85.5 | 1.7 points Hot Springs higher |
| 2024 | 85.7 | 85.9 | 0.1 points Jonesboro 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 Jonesboro for the same purchasing power:
| In Hot Springs | In Jonesboro | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,085 | +$85 |
| $75,000 | $75,128 | +$128 |
| $100,000 | $100,170 | +$170 |
| $150,000 | $150,255 | +$255 |
$ in Hot Springs = in Jonesboro
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.7 → 85.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Jonesboro more expensive than Hot Springs?
Jonesboro is 0.2% more expensive than Hot Springs. The overall cost index is 85.9 vs 85.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Jonesboro equals $100K in Hot Springs?
A $100,000 salary in Hot Springs has the same purchasing power as $100,170 in Jonesboro. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Hot Springs and Jonesboro?
Rents in Hot Springs are indexed at 57.3 while Jonesboro is at 53.8 (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.