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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Fayetteville to Stockton

Fayetteville, AR vs Stockton, CA

Simple answer

You'd likely save $759 a month in Fayetteville.

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 Fair Market Rent. The 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gap is $759: Stockton is higher at $2,015 versus $1,256.

Arkansas taxes wages at rates up to 3.90%. California taxes wages at rates up to 13.30%. Combined sales tax differs by 0.5 percentage points, higher in Arkansas. The effective property tax gap is 0.19 percentage points, higher in California.

After a move from Arkansas to California, those two example households keep the same benefit status labels. A different income can still split Medicaid and marketplace credits.

A $75,000 salary in Fayetteville lines up with about $86,277 in Stockton on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

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

Stockton

Stockton-Lodi, CA

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$2,015
HUD area
Stockton-Lodi, CA MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,788
All-items price parity
105.1
Goods price parity
105.2
Utilities price parity
158.2
Mean commute
34.6 min
Median household income
$93,038

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

$86,277

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

After state and federal tax

$89,556

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

Rent only

$120,322

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

TaxArkansasCalifornia
State income tax on wagesup to 3.90%up to 13.30%
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20269.5%9.0%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.52%0.71%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $2,065 a year in Arkansas and $2,828 in California. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in California

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

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

    StocktonLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

    StocktonLikely eligible

  • WIC

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

    StocktonLikely eligible

  • School meals

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

    StocktonLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    FayettevilleMaybe

    StocktonMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

    StocktonLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

    StocktonLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    FayettevilleUnlikely

    StocktonUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

    StocktonLikely eligible

  • SSI

    FayettevilleUnlikely

    StocktonUnlikely

At $40,000 the status labels match. A single adult around $18,000 is where Medicaid expansion and the marketplace coverage gap usually split.

Medicaid guide for California · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Fayetteville

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

Nearby metros

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