Overall
- Santa Fe
- 98.8
Diff -7.8 RPP
Santa Fe vs College Station-Bryan
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. College Station-Bryan is 7.9% less expensive than Santa Fe.
7.9% less expensive
College Station-Bryan, TX is 7.9% less expensive than Santa Fe, NM on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.0 vs 98.8). A $100,000 salary in Santa Fe buys about the same as $92,086 in College Station-Bryan; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.8 (Santa Fe) vs 91.0 (College Station-Bryan)
- $100k in Santa Fe ≈ $92,086 purchasing power in College Station-Bryan
- Rents drives the gap (-32.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NM:TX 98.8→91.0
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE NM × TX
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Santa Fe
- 96.1
Diff -2.4 RPP
Services
- Santa Fe
- 76.7
Diff +7.7 RPP
Rents
- Santa Fe
- 108.0
Diff -32.9 RPP
| Category | Santa Fe | College Station-Bryan | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.8 | 91.0 | -7.8 |
| Goods | 96.1 | 93.8 | -2.4 |
| Services | 76.7 | 84.4 | +7.7 |
| Rents | 108.0 | 75.1 | -32.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Santa Fe 98.8
College Station-Bryan 91.0
Goods
Santa Fe 96.1
College Station-Bryan 93.8
Services
Santa Fe 76.7
College Station-Bryan 84.4
Rents
Santa Fe 108.0
College Station-Bryan 75.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: College Station-Bryan is 32.9 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
College Station-Bryan, TX is 7.9% less expensive than Santa Fe, NM, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 7.8-point overall gap.
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.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Santa Fe corresponds to $92,086 in College Station-Bryan.
Santa Fe
98.8
Cost Index
College Station-Bryan
91.0
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Santa Fe would need to be in College Station-Bryan for the same purchasing power:
| In Santa Fe | In College Station-Bryan | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,043 | $-3,957 |
| $75,000 | $69,065 | $-5,935 |
| $100,000 | $92,086 | $-7,914 |
| $150,000 | $138,130 | $-11,870 |
$ in Santa Fe = in College Station-Bryan
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.8 → 91.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Santa Fe and College Station-Bryan share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 2.9 to 7.8 RPP points. Santa Fe remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 14.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (18.8 to 32.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Santa Fe RPP | College Station-Bryan RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.0 | 95.1 | 2.9 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2012 | 102.1 | 96.5 | 5.7 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2016 | 98.4 | 96.4 | 2.0 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2020 | 96.6 | 95.1 | 1.5 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2024 | 98.8 | 91.0 | 7.8 points Santa Fe 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is College Station-Bryan more expensive than Santa Fe?
College Station-Bryan is 7.9% less expensive than Santa Fe. The overall cost index is 91.0 vs 98.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in College Station-Bryan equals $100K in Santa Fe?
A $100,000 salary in Santa Fe has the same purchasing power as $92,086 in College Station-Bryan. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Santa Fe and College Station-Bryan?
Rents in Santa Fe are indexed at 108.0 while College Station-Bryan is at 75.1 (national average = 100). Santa Fe 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.