Overall
- Waco
- 92.5
- Fort Wayne
- 92.6
Diff +0.0 RPP
Waco vs Fort Wayne
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Fort Wayne is 0% more expensive than Waco.
0% more expensive
Fort Wayne, IN is 0% more expensive than Waco, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.6 vs 92.5). A $100,000 salary in Waco buys about the same as $100,024 in Fort Wayne; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 92.5 (Waco) vs 92.6 (Fort Wayne)
- $100k in Waco ≈ $100,024 purchasing power in Fort Wayne
- Rents drives the gap (-11.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:IN 92.5→92.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × IN
- 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.
Waco
92.5
Cost Index
Fort Wayne
92.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Waco, TX and Fort Wayne, IN are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.0 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Fort Wayne is 11.3 points lower. But rents 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 Waco corresponds to $100,024 in Fort Wayne.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Waco
- 93.8
- Fort Wayne
- 94.3
Diff +0.6 RPP
Services
- Waco
- 81.0
- Fort Wayne
- 86.2
Diff +5.3 RPP
Rents
- Waco
- 83.5
- Fort Wayne
- 72.3
Diff -11.3 RPP
| Category | Waco | Fort Wayne | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.5 | 92.6 | +0.0 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 94.3 | +0.6 |
| Services | 81.0 | 86.2 | +5.3 |
| Rents | 83.5 | 72.3 | -11.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Waco 92.5
Fort Wayne 92.6
Goods
Waco 93.8
Fort Wayne 94.3
Services
Waco 81.0
Fort Wayne 86.2
Rents
Waco 83.5
Fort Wayne 72.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Waco and Fort Wayne share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.0 to 0.0 RPP points. Fort Wayne remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 12.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (6.8 to 5.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Waco RPP | Fort Wayne RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 93.5 | 93.5 | 0.0 points Waco higher |
| 2012 | 94.7 | 92.2 | 2.5 points Waco higher |
| 2016 | 94.2 | 92.0 | 2.2 points Waco higher |
| 2020 | 93.4 | 89.9 | 3.5 points Waco higher |
| 2024 | 92.5 | 92.6 | 0.0 points Fort Wayne 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 Waco would need to be in Fort Wayne for the same purchasing power:
| In Waco | In Fort Wayne | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,012 | +$12 |
| $75,000 | $75,018 | +$18 |
| $100,000 | $100,024 | +$24 |
| $150,000 | $150,036 | +$36 |
$ in Waco = in Fort Wayne
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.5 → 92.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fort Wayne more expensive than Waco?
Fort Wayne is 0% more expensive than Waco. The overall cost index is 92.6 vs 92.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Fort Wayne equals $100K in Waco?
A $100,000 salary in Waco has the same purchasing power as $100,024 in Fort Wayne. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Waco and Fort Wayne?
Rents in Waco are indexed at 83.5 while Fort Wayne is at 72.3 (national average = 100). Waco 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.