Overall
Diff +0.5 RPP
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington vs Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is 0.5% more expensive than Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington.
0.5% more expensive
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX is 0.5% more expensive than Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.1 vs 102.6). A $100,000 salary in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington buys about the same as $100,523 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 102.6 (Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington) vs 103.1 (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington)
- $100k in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington ≈ $100,523 purchasing power in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
- Services drives the gap (-23.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair PA:TX 102.6→103.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE PA × TX
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 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.
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington
102.6
Cost Index
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
103.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is 23.7 points lower. But services 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 exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington to $100,523 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +6.0 RPP
Services
Diff -23.7 RPP
Rents
Diff +4.7 RPP
| Category | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 102.6 | 103.1 | +0.5 |
| Goods | 96.8 | 102.8 | +6.0 |
| Services | 114.4 | 90.7 | -23.7 |
| Rents | 113.1 | 117.9 | +4.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 102.6
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 103.1
Goods
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 96.8
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 102.8
Services
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 114.4
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 90.7
Rents
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 113.1
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 117.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington would need to be in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington for the same purchasing power:
| In Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington | In Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,261 | +$261 |
| $75,000 | $75,392 | +$392 |
| $100,000 | $100,523 | +$523 |
| $150,000 | $150,784 | +$784 |
$ in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington = in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (102.6 → 103.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington more expensive than Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington?
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is 0.5% more expensive than Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington. The overall cost index is 103.1 vs 102.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington equals $100K in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington?
A $100,000 salary in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington has the same purchasing power as $100,523 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
Rents in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington are indexed at 113.1 while Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is at 117.9 (national average = 100). Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 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.