Overall
- Jackson
- 89.0
Diff -0.3 RPP
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway vs Jackson
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Jackson is 0.4% less expensive than Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway.
0.4% less expensive
Jackson, MS is 0.4% less expensive than Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 89.0 vs 89.4). A $100,000 salary in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway buys about the same as $99,646 in Jackson; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 89.4 (Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway) vs 89.0 (Jackson)
- $100k in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway ≈ $99,646 purchasing power in Jackson
- Rents drives the gap (-3.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AR:MS 89.4→89.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AR × MS
- 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.
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway
89.4
Cost Index
Jackson
89.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR and Jackson, MS are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Jackson is 3.5 points lower. But services 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 Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway corresponds to $99,646 in Jackson.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Jackson
- 96.2
Diff +2.6 RPP
Services
- Jackson
- 78.1
Diff +3.5 RPP
Rents
- Jackson
- 64.8
Diff -3.5 RPP
| Category | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway | Jackson | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 89.4 | 89.0 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 96.2 | +2.6 |
| Services | 74.6 | 78.1 | +3.5 |
| Rents | 68.3 | 64.8 | -3.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway 89.4
Jackson 89.0
Goods
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway 93.6
Jackson 96.2
Services
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway 74.6
Jackson 78.1
Rents
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway 68.3
Jackson 64.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway and Jackson share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 1.3 to 0.3 RPP points. Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 2.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (0.2 to 2.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway RPP | Jackson RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 92.8 | 91.6 | 1.3 points Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway higher |
| 2012 | 93.7 | 93.0 | 0.8 points Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway higher |
| 2016 | 94.3 | 93.5 | 0.8 points Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway higher |
| 2020 | 90.6 | 88.9 | 1.7 points Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway higher |
| 2024 | 89.4 | 89.0 | 0.3 points Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway 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 Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway would need to be in Jackson for the same purchasing power:
| In Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway | In Jackson | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,823 | $-177 |
| $75,000 | $74,735 | $-265 |
| $100,000 | $99,646 | $-354 |
| $150,000 | $149,470 | $-530 |
$ in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway = in Jackson
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (89.4 → 89.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Jackson more expensive than Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway?
Jackson is 0.4% less expensive than Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway. The overall cost index is 89.0 vs 89.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Jackson equals $100K in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway?
A $100,000 salary in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway has the same purchasing power as $99,646 in Jackson. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway and Jackson?
Rents in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway are indexed at 68.3 while Jackson is at 64.8 (national average = 100). Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway 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.