Overall
- Memphis
- 92.2
- Fayetteville
- 92.0
Diff -0.2 RPP
Memphis vs Fayetteville
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Fayetteville is 0.2% less expensive than Memphis.
0.2% less expensive
Fayetteville, NC is 0.2% less expensive than Memphis, TN-MS-AR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.0 vs 92.2). A $100,000 salary in Memphis buys about the same as $99,782 in Fayetteville; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 92.2 (Memphis) vs 92.0 (Fayetteville)
- $100k in Memphis ≈ $99,782 purchasing power in Fayetteville
- Services drives the gap (+13.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TN:NC 92.2→92.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TN × NC
- 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.
Memphis
92.2
Cost Index
Fayetteville
92.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Memphis, TN-MS-AR and Fayetteville, NC 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: Fayetteville is 13.7 points higher. 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Memphis to $99,782 in Fayetteville, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Memphis
- 96.2
- Fayetteville
- 96.6
Diff +0.4 RPP
Services
- Memphis
- 74.1
- Fayetteville
- 87.8
Diff +13.7 RPP
Rents
- Memphis
- 79.8
- Fayetteville
- 73.1
Diff -6.7 RPP
| Category | Memphis | Fayetteville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.2 | 92.0 | -0.2 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 96.6 | +0.4 |
| Services | 74.1 | 87.8 | +13.7 |
| Rents | 79.8 | 73.1 | -6.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Memphis 92.2
Fayetteville 92.0
Goods
Memphis 96.2
Fayetteville 96.6
Services
Memphis 74.1
Fayetteville 87.8
Rents
Memphis 79.8
Fayetteville 73.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Memphis and Fayetteville share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 1.8 to 0.2 RPP points. Memphis remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 10.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (3.0 to 13.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Memphis RPP | Fayetteville RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.2 | 92.4 | 1.8 points Memphis higher |
| 2012 | 95.0 | 94.1 | 0.9 points Memphis higher |
| 2016 | 95.2 | 92.0 | 3.2 points Memphis higher |
| 2020 | 90.3 | 89.0 | 1.4 points Memphis higher |
| 2024 | 92.2 | 92.0 | 0.2 points Memphis 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 Memphis would need to be in Fayetteville for the same purchasing power:
| In Memphis | In Fayetteville | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,891 | $-109 |
| $75,000 | $74,836 | $-164 |
| $100,000 | $99,782 | $-218 |
| $150,000 | $149,673 | $-327 |
$ in Memphis = in Fayetteville
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.2 → 92.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fayetteville more expensive than Memphis?
Fayetteville is 0.2% less expensive than Memphis. The overall cost index is 92.0 vs 92.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Fayetteville equals $100K in Memphis?
A $100,000 salary in Memphis has the same purchasing power as $99,782 in Fayetteville. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Memphis and Fayetteville?
Rents in Memphis are indexed at 79.8 while Fayetteville is at 73.1 (national average = 100). Memphis 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.