Overall
- Texarkana
- 84.0
- Fort Smith
- 85.9
Diff +1.9 RPP
Texarkana vs Fort Smith
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Fort Smith is 2.2% more expensive than Texarkana.
2.2% more expensive
Fort Smith, AR-OK is 2.2% more expensive than Texarkana, TX-AR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.9 vs 84.0). A $100,000 salary in Texarkana buys about the same as $102,233 in Fort Smith; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 84.0 (Texarkana) vs 85.9 (Fort Smith)
- $100k in Texarkana ≈ $102,233 purchasing power in Fort Smith
- Services drives the gap (-5.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:AR 84.0→85.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × AR
- 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.
Texarkana
84.0
Cost Index
Fort Smith
85.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Texarkana, TX-AR and Fort Smith, AR-OK are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.9 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Fort Smith is 5.5 points lower. 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 Texarkana to $102,233 in Fort Smith, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Texarkana
- 93.7
- Fort Smith
- 93.6
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
- Texarkana
- 79.3
- Fort Smith
- 73.8
Diff -5.5 RPP
Rents
- Texarkana
- 49.9
- Fort Smith
- 53.4
Diff +3.6 RPP
| Category | Texarkana | Fort Smith | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 84.0 | 85.9 | +1.9 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 93.6 | -0.1 |
| Services | 79.3 | 73.8 | -5.5 |
| Rents | 49.9 | 53.4 | +3.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Texarkana 84.0
Fort Smith 85.9
Goods
Texarkana 93.7
Fort Smith 93.6
Services
Texarkana 79.3
Fort Smith 73.8
Rents
Texarkana 49.9
Fort Smith 53.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Texarkana would need to be in Fort Smith for the same purchasing power:
| In Texarkana | In Fort Smith | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,117 | +$1,117 |
| $75,000 | $76,675 | +$1,675 |
| $100,000 | $102,233 | +$2,233 |
| $150,000 | $153,350 | +$3,350 |
$ in Texarkana = in Fort Smith
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (84.0 → 85.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fort Smith more expensive than Texarkana?
Fort Smith is 2.2% more expensive than Texarkana. The overall cost index is 85.9 vs 84.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Fort Smith equals $100K in Texarkana?
A $100,000 salary in Texarkana has the same purchasing power as $102,233 in Fort Smith. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Texarkana and Fort Smith?
Rents in Texarkana are indexed at 49.9 while Fort Smith is at 53.4 (national average = 100). Fort Smith 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.