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Cost & Benefits

Compare / El Paso to Fayetteville

El Paso, TX vs Fayetteville, AR

Simple answer

You'd likely save $110 a month in El Paso.

This is the HUD 2-bedroom fair-market rent for October 2026 through September 2027. It is not your lease.

The largest cost gap in this pair is Census rent. Census median gross rent differs by $141, with Fayetteville higher.

Texas has no tax on wages. Arkansas taxes wages at rates up to 3.90%. Combined sales tax differs by 1.3 percentage points, higher in Arkansas. The effective property tax gap is 0.80 percentage points, higher in Texas.

After a move from Texas to Arkansas, these benefit results change for a family of four at $40,000 and a single adult at $18,000: Marketplace premium tax credits, Medicaid and CHIP.

A $75,000 salary in El Paso lines up with about $76,202 in Fayetteville on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

El Paso

El Paso, TX

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,146
HUD area
El Paso, TX HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,081
All-items price parity
89.9
Goods price parity
93.8
Utilities price parity
82.6
Mean commute
24.3 min
Median household income
$59,834

Fayetteville

Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,256
HUD area
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,222
All-items price parity
91.4
Goods price parity
93.6
Utilities price parity
75.1
Mean commute
22.3 min
Median household income
$81,208

Equivalent salary

The first number keeps the same place in the national price level. The second also runs 2026 federal income tax, employee Social Security and Medicare, and a simplified state income tax. Groceries use the BEA goods price parity, not a grocery receipt.

Same buying power

$76,202

Salary in Fayetteville that matches the 2024 all-items regional price parity.

After state and federal tax

$80,567

Gross salary in Fayetteville whose after-tax pay buys the same basket, using price parities.

Rent only

$82,199

Scales the salary by the ratio of HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rents. Rent is not the whole budget.

Taxes on the two sides of the move

TaxTexasArkansas
State income tax on wagesNo wage taxup to 3.90%
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20268.2%9.5%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median1.31%0.52%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $5,246 a year in Texas and $2,065 in Arkansas. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Arkansas

Same household, $40,000 a year, scored once in Texas and once in Arkansas. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    El PasoLikely eligible

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    El PasoLikely eligible

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

  • WIC

    El PasoLikely eligible

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

  • School meals

    El PasoLikely eligible

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    El PasoMaybe

    FayettevilleMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    El PasoLikely eligible

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    El PasoLikely eligible

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    El PasoLikely eligible

    FayettevilleUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    El PasoLikely eligible

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

  • SSI

    El PasoUnlikely

    FayettevilleUnlikely

Marketplace premium tax credits changes. In El Paso the result is “Likely inside the 2026 subsidy range.” In Fayetteville it is “Unlikely — Medicaid is the closer program.” Arkansas expanded Medicaid, and this income is in the Medicaid range. Marketplace subsidies are usually not the program in that case.

Medicaid guide for Arkansas · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From El Paso

The eight largest 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gaps from El Paso.

Nearby metros

How the salary and tax math works · The reverse city order redirects to this address.