Overall
- Hot Springs
- 85.7
Diff -0.2 RPP
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission vs Hot Springs
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Hot Springs is 0.2% less expensive than McAllen-Edinburg-Mission.
0.2% less expensive
Hot Springs, AR is 0.2% less expensive than McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.7 vs 85.9). A $100,000 salary in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission buys about the same as $99,808 in Hot Springs; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 85.9 (McAllen-Edinburg-Mission) vs 85.7 (Hot Springs)
- $100k in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission ≈ $99,808 purchasing power in Hot Springs
- Services drives the gap (-6.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:AR 85.9→85.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × 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.
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission
85.9
Cost Index
Hot Springs
85.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX and Hot Springs, AR are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Hot Springs is 6.9 points lower. But rents 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission to $99,808 in Hot Springs, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Hot Springs
- 93.6
Diff -0.2 RPP
Services
- Hot Springs
- 74.3
Diff -6.9 RPP
Rents
- Hot Springs
- 57.3
Diff +1.4 RPP
| Category | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission | Hot Springs | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.9 | 85.7 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 93.6 | -0.2 |
| Services | 81.2 | 74.3 | -6.9 |
| Rents | 55.9 | 57.3 | +1.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 85.9
Hot Springs 85.7
Goods
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 93.8
Hot Springs 93.6
Services
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 81.2
Hot Springs 74.3
Rents
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 55.9
Hot Springs 57.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission and Hot Springs share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.2 to 0.2 RPP points. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 17.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (24.6 to 6.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission RPP | Hot Springs RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 86.9 | 86.7 | 0.2 points McAllen-Edinburg-Mission higher |
| 2012 | 89.2 | 88.2 | 1.0 points McAllen-Edinburg-Mission higher |
| 2016 | 89.8 | 88.4 | 1.4 points McAllen-Edinburg-Mission higher |
| 2020 | 88.0 | 87.2 | 0.8 points McAllen-Edinburg-Mission higher |
| 2024 | 85.9 | 85.7 | 0.2 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 McAllen-Edinburg-Mission would need to be in Hot Springs for the same purchasing power:
| In McAllen-Edinburg-Mission | In Hot Springs | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,904 | $-96 |
| $75,000 | $74,856 | $-144 |
| $100,000 | $99,808 | $-192 |
| $150,000 | $149,712 | $-288 |
$ in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission = in Hot Springs
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.9 → 85.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hot Springs more expensive than McAllen-Edinburg-Mission?
Hot Springs is 0.2% less expensive than McAllen-Edinburg-Mission. The overall cost index is 85.7 vs 85.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Hot Springs equals $100K in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission?
A $100,000 salary in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission has the same purchasing power as $99,808 in Hot Springs. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between McAllen-Edinburg-Mission and Hot Springs?
Rents in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission are indexed at 55.9 while Hot Springs is at 57.3 (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.