Overall
Diff +0.4 RPP
Pueblo vs Memphis
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Memphis is 0.5% more expensive than Pueblo.
0.5% more expensive
Memphis, TN-MS-AR is 0.5% more expensive than Pueblo, CO on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.2 vs 91.8). A $100,000 salary in Pueblo buys about the same as $100,454 in Memphis; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 91.8 (Pueblo) vs 92.2 (Memphis)
- $100k in Pueblo ≈ $100,454 purchasing power in Memphis
- Rents drives the gap (+8.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CO:TN 91.8→92.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE CO × TN
- 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.
Pueblo
91.8
Cost Index
Memphis
92.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Pueblo, CO and Memphis, TN-MS-AR are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Memphis is 8.5 points higher. 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 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 Pueblo corresponds to $100,454 in Memphis.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +0.2 RPP
Services
Diff -7.8 RPP
Rents
Diff +8.5 RPP
| Category | Pueblo | Memphis | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.8 | 92.2 | +0.4 |
| Goods | 96.1 | 96.2 | +0.2 |
| Services | 81.9 | 74.1 | -7.8 |
| Rents | 71.3 | 79.8 | +8.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Pueblo 91.8
Memphis 92.2
Goods
Pueblo 96.1
Memphis 96.2
Services
Pueblo 81.9
Memphis 74.1
Rents
Pueblo 71.3
Memphis 79.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Pueblo and Memphis share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.8 to 0.4 RPP points. Memphis remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 11.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (3.2 to 7.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Pueblo RPP | Memphis RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 91.4 | 94.2 | 2.8 points Memphis higher |
| 2012 | 96.2 | 95.0 | 1.2 points Pueblo higher |
| 2016 | 93.2 | 95.2 | 2.1 points Memphis higher |
| 2020 | 90.1 | 90.3 | 0.2 points Memphis higher |
| 2024 | 91.8 | 92.2 | 0.4 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 Pueblo would need to be in Memphis for the same purchasing power:
| In Pueblo | In Memphis | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,227 | +$227 |
| $75,000 | $75,341 | +$341 |
| $100,000 | $100,454 | +$454 |
| $150,000 | $150,682 | +$682 |
$ in Pueblo = in Memphis
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.8 → 92.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Memphis more expensive than Pueblo?
Memphis is 0.5% more expensive than Pueblo. The overall cost index is 92.2 vs 91.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Memphis equals $100K in Pueblo?
A $100,000 salary in Pueblo has the same purchasing power as $100,454 in Memphis. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Pueblo and Memphis?
Rents in Pueblo are indexed at 71.3 while Memphis is at 79.8 (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.