Overall
- Wichita Falls
- 89.5
- Fairbanks-College
- 103.2
Diff +13.7 RPP
Wichita Falls vs Fairbanks-College
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Fairbanks-College is 15.3% more expensive than Wichita Falls.
15.3% more expensive
Fairbanks-College, AK is 15.3% more expensive than Wichita Falls, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.2 vs 89.5). A $100,000 salary in Wichita Falls buys about the same as $115,299 in Fairbanks-College; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 89.5 (Wichita Falls) vs 103.2 (Fairbanks-College)
- $100k in Wichita Falls ≈ $115,299 purchasing power in Fairbanks-College
- Services drives the gap (+35.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:AK 89.5→103.2
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE TX × AK
- SERVICES-LED Services-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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Wichita Falls, TX and Fairbanks-College, AK sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 13.7 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Fairbanks-College is above 100 while Wichita Falls is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Services leads the difference, with Fairbanks-College 35.7 points higher than Wichita Falls. 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Wichita Falls to $115,299 in Fairbanks-College, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Wichita Falls and Fairbanks-College share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 11.2 to 13.7 RPP points. Fairbanks-College remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 37.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (2.1 to 35.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Wichita Falls RPP | Fairbanks-College RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 93.5 | 104.7 | 11.2 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2012 | 94.0 | 97.9 | 4.0 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2016 | 93.0 | 100.4 | 7.5 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2020 | 92.5 | 99.4 | 6.8 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2024 | 89.5 | 103.2 | 13.7 points Fairbanks-College 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Wichita Falls
- 93.8
- Fairbanks-College
- 107.3
Diff +13.6 RPP
Services
- Wichita Falls
- 84.1
- Fairbanks-College
- 119.8
Diff +35.7 RPP
Rents
- Wichita Falls
- 68.2
- Fairbanks-College
- 92.6
Diff +24.4 RPP
| Category | Wichita Falls | Fairbanks-College | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 89.5 | 103.2 | +13.7 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 107.3 | +13.6 |
| Services | 84.1 | 119.8 | +35.7 |
| Rents | 68.2 | 92.6 | +24.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Wichita Falls 89.5
Fairbanks-College 103.2
Goods
Wichita Falls 93.8
Fairbanks-College 107.3
Services
Wichita Falls 84.1
Fairbanks-College 119.8
Rents
Wichita Falls 68.2
Fairbanks-College 92.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Wichita Falls would need to be in Fairbanks-College for the same purchasing power:
| In Wichita Falls | In Fairbanks-College | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $57,650 | +$7,650 |
| $75,000 | $86,475 | +$11,475 |
| $100,000 | $115,299 | +$15,299 |
| $150,000 | $172,949 | +$22,949 |
$ in Wichita Falls = in Fairbanks-College
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (89.5 → 103.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Wichita Falls
89.5
Cost Index
Fairbanks-College
103.2
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fairbanks-College more expensive than Wichita Falls?
Fairbanks-College is 15.3% more expensive than Wichita Falls. The overall cost index is 103.2 vs 89.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Fairbanks-College equals $100K in Wichita Falls?
A $100,000 salary in Wichita Falls has the same purchasing power as $115,299 in Fairbanks-College. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Wichita Falls and Fairbanks-College?
Rents in Wichita Falls are indexed at 68.2 while Fairbanks-College is at 92.6 (national average = 100). Fairbanks-College 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.