Overall
- Jonesboro
- 85.9
Diff +0.1 RPP
Jonesboro vs Brownsville-Harlingen
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Brownsville-Harlingen is 0.1% more expensive than Jonesboro.
0.1% more expensive
Brownsville-Harlingen, TX is 0.1% more expensive than Jonesboro, AR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 86.0 vs 85.9). A $100,000 salary in Jonesboro buys about the same as $100,115 in Brownsville-Harlingen; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 85.9 (Jonesboro) vs 86.0 (Brownsville-Harlingen)
- $100k in Jonesboro ≈ $100,115 purchasing power in Brownsville-Harlingen
- Services drives the gap (+6.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AR:TX 85.9→86.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AR × TX
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
Jonesboro
85.9
Cost Index
Brownsville-Harlingen
86.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Jonesboro, AR and Brownsville-Harlingen, TX 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.
Services leads the difference, with Brownsville-Harlingen 6.2 points higher than Jonesboro. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
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 Jonesboro to $100,115 in Brownsville-Harlingen, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Jonesboro
- 93.6
Diff +0.2 RPP
Services
- Jonesboro
- 75.0
Diff +6.2 RPP
Rents
- Jonesboro
- 53.8
Diff +3.9 RPP
| Category | Jonesboro | Brownsville-Harlingen | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.9 | 86.0 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 93.8 | +0.2 |
| Services | 75.0 | 81.2 | +6.2 |
| Rents | 53.8 | 57.7 | +3.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Jonesboro 85.9
Brownsville-Harlingen 86.0
Goods
Jonesboro 93.6
Brownsville-Harlingen 93.8
Services
Jonesboro 75.0
Brownsville-Harlingen 81.2
Rents
Jonesboro 53.8
Brownsville-Harlingen 57.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Jonesboro would need to be in Brownsville-Harlingen for the same purchasing power:
| In Jonesboro | In Brownsville-Harlingen | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,058 | +$58 |
| $75,000 | $75,086 | +$86 |
| $100,000 | $100,115 | +$115 |
| $150,000 | $150,173 | +$173 |
$ in Jonesboro = in Brownsville-Harlingen
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.9 → 86.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Brownsville-Harlingen more expensive than Jonesboro?
Brownsville-Harlingen is 0.1% more expensive than Jonesboro. The overall cost index is 86.0 vs 85.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Brownsville-Harlingen equals $100K in Jonesboro?
A $100,000 salary in Jonesboro has the same purchasing power as $100,115 in Brownsville-Harlingen. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Jonesboro and Brownsville-Harlingen?
Rents in Jonesboro are indexed at 53.8 while Brownsville-Harlingen is at 57.7 (national average = 100). Brownsville-Harlingen 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.