Overall
- Tuscaloosa
- 87.7
Diff +15.4 RPP
Tuscaloosa vs Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is 17.5% more expensive than Tuscaloosa.
17.5% more expensive
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX is 17.5% more expensive than Tuscaloosa, AL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.1 vs 87.7). A $100,000 salary in Tuscaloosa buys about the same as $117,519 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 87.7 (Tuscaloosa) vs 103.1 (Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington)
- $100k in Tuscaloosa ≈ $117,519 purchasing power in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
- Rents drives the gap (+59.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AL:TX 87.7→103.1
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE AL × TX
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-STEEP Steep PP convert
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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Tuscaloosa would need to be in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington for the same purchasing power:
| In Tuscaloosa | In Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $58,759 | +$8,759 |
| $75,000 | $88,139 | +$13,139 |
| $100,000 | $117,519 | +$17,519 |
| $150,000 | $176,278 | +$26,278 |
$ in Tuscaloosa = in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.7 → 103.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Tuscaloosa, AL and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 15.4 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is above 100 while Tuscaloosa is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 59.6 points higher than Tuscaloosa. 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 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 Tuscaloosa corresponds to $117,519 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Tuscaloosa
- 96.4
Diff +6.4 RPP
Services
- Tuscaloosa
- 84.4
Diff +6.3 RPP
Rents
- Tuscaloosa
- 58.2
Diff +59.6 RPP
| Category | Tuscaloosa | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.7 | 103.1 | +15.4 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 102.8 | +6.4 |
| Services | 84.4 | 90.7 | +6.3 |
| Rents | 58.2 | 117.9 | +59.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Tuscaloosa 87.7
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 103.1
Goods
Tuscaloosa 96.4
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 102.8
Services
Tuscaloosa 84.4
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 90.7
Rents
Tuscaloosa 58.2
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 117.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
Tuscaloosa
87.7
Cost Index
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
103.1
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Tuscaloosa and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 11.6 to 15.4 RPP points. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 21.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (38.1 to 59.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Tuscaloosa RPP | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 89.7 | 101.4 | 11.6 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2012 | 90.6 | 100.8 | 10.2 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2016 | 90.9 | 98.0 | 7.1 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2020 | 87.1 | 104.5 | 17.4 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington higher |
| 2024 | 87.7 | 103.1 | 15.4 points Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington more expensive than Tuscaloosa?
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is 17.5% more expensive than Tuscaloosa. The overall cost index is 103.1 vs 87.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington equals $100K in Tuscaloosa?
A $100,000 salary in Tuscaloosa has the same purchasing power as $117,519 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Tuscaloosa and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington?
Rents in Tuscaloosa are indexed at 58.2 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.