Overall
- Jacksonville
- 99.5
- Fairbanks-College
- 103.2
Diff +3.7 RPP
Jacksonville vs Fairbanks-College
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Fairbanks-College is 3.7% more expensive than Jacksonville.
3.7% more expensive
Fairbanks-College, AK is 3.7% more expensive than Jacksonville, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.2 vs 99.5). A $100,000 salary in Jacksonville buys about the same as $103,743 in Fairbanks-College; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 99.5 (Jacksonville) vs 103.2 (Fairbanks-College)
- $100k in Jacksonville ≈ $103,743 purchasing power in Fairbanks-College
- Services drives the gap (+32.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:AK 99.5→103.2
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE FL × AK
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Jacksonville
- 96.2
- Fairbanks-College
- 107.3
Diff +11.1 RPP
Services
- Jacksonville
- 87.5
- Fairbanks-College
- 119.8
Diff +32.3 RPP
Rents
- Jacksonville
- 109.8
- Fairbanks-College
- 92.6
Diff -17.2 RPP
| Category | Jacksonville | Fairbanks-College | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 99.5 | 103.2 | +3.7 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 107.3 | +11.1 |
| Services | 87.5 | 119.8 | +32.3 |
| Rents | 109.8 | 92.6 | -17.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Jacksonville 99.5
Fairbanks-College 103.2
Goods
Jacksonville 96.2
Fairbanks-College 107.3
Services
Jacksonville 87.5
Fairbanks-College 119.8
Rents
Jacksonville 109.8
Fairbanks-College 92.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Fairbanks-College is 32.3 points higher. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Fairbanks-College, AK is 3.7% more expensive than Jacksonville, FL, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.7-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Fairbanks-College is above 100 while Jacksonville is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Jacksonville to $103,743 in Fairbanks-College, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Jacksonville
99.5
Cost Index
Fairbanks-College
103.2
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Jacksonville would need to be in Fairbanks-College for the same purchasing power:
| In Jacksonville | In Fairbanks-College | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,872 | +$1,872 |
| $75,000 | $77,807 | +$2,807 |
| $100,000 | $103,743 | +$3,743 |
| $150,000 | $155,615 | +$5,615 |
$ in Jacksonville = in Fairbanks-College
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (99.5 → 103.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fairbanks-College more expensive than Jacksonville?
Fairbanks-College is 3.7% more expensive than Jacksonville. The overall cost index is 103.2 vs 99.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Fairbanks-College equals $100K in Jacksonville?
A $100,000 salary in Jacksonville has the same purchasing power as $103,743 in Fairbanks-College. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Jacksonville and Fairbanks-College?
Rents in Jacksonville are indexed at 109.8 while Fairbanks-College is at 92.6 (national average = 100). Jacksonville 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.