Overall
- Jonesboro
- 85.9
Diff +0.0 RPP
Jonesboro vs McAllen-Edinburg-Mission
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission is 0% more expensive than Jonesboro.
0% more expensive
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX is 0% more expensive than Jonesboro, AR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.9 vs 85.9). A $100,000 salary in Jonesboro buys about the same as $100,022 in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 85.9 (Jonesboro) vs 85.9 (McAllen-Edinburg-Mission)
- $100k in Jonesboro ≈ $100,022 purchasing power in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission
- Services drives the gap (+6.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AR:TX 85.9→85.9
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
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission
85.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Jonesboro, AR and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX 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.
Services leads the difference, with McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 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 $100,022 in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, 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 +2.0 RPP
| Category | Jonesboro | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.9 | 85.9 | +0.0 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 93.8 | +0.2 |
| Services | 75.0 | 81.2 | +6.2 |
| Rents | 53.8 | 55.9 | +2.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Jonesboro 85.9
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 85.9
Goods
Jonesboro 93.6
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 93.8
Services
Jonesboro 75.0
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 81.2
Rents
Jonesboro 53.8
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 55.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Jonesboro and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.6 to 0.0 RPP points. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 16.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (22.2 to 6.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Jonesboro RPP | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 84.2 | 86.9 | 2.6 points McAllen-Edinburg-Mission higher |
| 2012 | 85.8 | 89.2 | 3.3 points McAllen-Edinburg-Mission higher |
| 2016 | 84.8 | 89.8 | 5.0 points McAllen-Edinburg-Mission higher |
| 2020 | 85.5 | 88.0 | 2.6 points McAllen-Edinburg-Mission higher |
| 2024 | 85.9 | 85.9 | 0.0 points McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 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 Jonesboro would need to be in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission for the same purchasing power:
| In Jonesboro | In McAllen-Edinburg-Mission | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,011 | +$11 |
| $75,000 | $75,017 | +$17 |
| $100,000 | $100,022 | +$22 |
| $150,000 | $150,033 | +$33 |
$ in Jonesboro = in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.9 → 85.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Also Compare
Frequently Asked Questions
Is McAllen-Edinburg-Mission more expensive than Jonesboro?
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission is 0% more expensive than Jonesboro. The overall cost index is 85.9 vs 85.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission equals $100K in Jonesboro?
A $100,000 salary in Jonesboro has the same purchasing power as $100,022 in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Jonesboro and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission?
Rents in Jonesboro are indexed at 53.8 while McAllen-Edinburg-Mission is at 55.9 (national average = 100). McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 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.