Overall
Diff -0.4 RPP
Waco vs Memphis
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Memphis is 0.4% less expensive than Waco.
0.4% less expensive
Memphis, TN-MS-AR is 0.4% less expensive than Waco, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.2 vs 92.5). A $100,000 salary in Waco buys about the same as $99,599 in Memphis; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 92.5 (Waco) vs 92.2 (Memphis)
- $100k in Waco ≈ $99,599 purchasing power in Memphis
- Services drives the gap (-6.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:TN 92.5→92.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × 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.
Waco
92.5
Cost Index
Memphis
92.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Waco, TX 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.
Services creates the largest separation: Memphis is 6.9 points lower. But 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 Waco to $99,599 in Memphis, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +2.5 RPP
Services
Diff -6.9 RPP
Rents
Diff -3.7 RPP
| Category | Waco | Memphis | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.5 | 92.2 | -0.4 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 96.2 | +2.5 |
| Services | 81.0 | 74.1 | -6.9 |
| Rents | 83.5 | 79.8 | -3.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Waco 92.5
Memphis 92.2
Goods
Waco 93.8
Memphis 96.2
Services
Waco 81.0
Memphis 74.1
Rents
Waco 83.5
Memphis 79.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Waco and Memphis share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 0.7 to 0.4 RPP points. Waco remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 8.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (5.0 to 3.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Waco RPP | Memphis RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 93.5 | 94.2 | 0.7 points Memphis higher |
| 2012 | 94.7 | 95.0 | 0.3 points Memphis higher |
| 2016 | 94.2 | 95.2 | 1.1 points Memphis higher |
| 2020 | 93.4 | 90.3 | 3.0 points Waco higher |
| 2024 | 92.5 | 92.2 | 0.4 points Waco 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 Memphis for the same purchasing power:
| In Waco | In Memphis | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,800 | $-200 |
| $75,000 | $74,699 | $-301 |
| $100,000 | $99,599 | $-401 |
| $150,000 | $149,399 | $-601 |
$ in Waco = in Memphis
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.5 → 92.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Memphis more expensive than Waco?
Memphis is 0.4% less expensive than Waco. The overall cost index is 92.2 vs 92.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Memphis equals $100K in Waco?
A $100,000 salary in Waco has the same purchasing power as $99,599 in Memphis. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Waco and Memphis?
Rents in Waco are indexed at 83.5 while Memphis is at 79.8 (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.