Overall
Diff -2.3 RPP
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro vs Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is 2.2% less expensive than Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro.
2.2% less expensive
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX is 2.2% less expensive than Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.1 vs 105.4). A $100,000 salary in Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro buys about the same as $97,789 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 105.4 (Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro) vs 103.1 (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington)
- $100k in Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro ≈ $97,789 purchasing power in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
- Services drives the gap (-16.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair OR:TX 105.4→103.1
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE OR × TX
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX is 2.2% less expensive than Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.3-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 16.3 points lower than Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro. 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.
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 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro to $97,789 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.6 to 2.3 RPP points. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 34.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (18.3 to 16.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro RPP | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.7 | 101.4 | 2.6 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2012 | 104.3 | 100.8 | 3.6 points Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro higher |
| 2016 | 101.5 | 98.0 | 3.5 points Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro higher |
| 2020 | 105.8 | 104.5 | 1.3 points Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro higher |
| 2024 | 105.4 | 103.1 | 2.3 points Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -2.4 RPP
Services
Diff -16.3 RPP
Rents
Diff -7.2 RPP
| Category | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 105.4 | 103.1 | -2.3 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 102.8 | -2.4 |
| Services | 107.0 | 90.7 | -16.3 |
| Rents | 125.1 | 117.9 | -7.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro 105.4
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 103.1
Goods
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro 105.2
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 102.8
Services
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro 107.0
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 90.7
Rents
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro 125.1
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 117.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro would need to be in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington for the same purchasing power:
| In Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro | In Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,894 | $-1,106 |
| $75,000 | $73,342 | $-1,658 |
| $100,000 | $97,789 | $-2,211 |
| $150,000 | $146,683 | $-3,317 |
$ in Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro = in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (105.4 → 103.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro
105.4
Cost Index
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
103.1
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington more expensive than Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro?
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is 2.2% less expensive than Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro. The overall cost index is 103.1 vs 105.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington equals $100K in Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro?
A $100,000 salary in Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro has the same purchasing power as $97,789 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
Rents in Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro are indexed at 125.1 while Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is at 117.9 (national average = 100). Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro 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.