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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Fayetteville to Tucson

Fayetteville, AR vs Tucson, AZ

Simple answer

You'd likely save $149 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 housing prices. The BEA housing price parity differs by 14.9 points (Fayetteville 76.9, Tucson 91.8).

Arkansas taxes wages at rates up to 3.90%. Arizona taxes wages at a flat 2.50%. Combined sales tax differs by 0.9 percentage points, higher in Arkansas. The effective property tax gap is 0.09 percentage points, higher in Arkansas.

After a move from Arkansas to Arizona, 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 $79,551 in Tucson 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

Tucson

Tucson, AZ

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,405
HUD area
Tucson, AZ MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,300
All-items price parity
96.9
Goods price parity
96.2
Utilities price parity
89.5
Mean commute
24.8 min
Median household income
$72,067

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

$79,551

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

After state and federal tax

$78,724

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

Rent only

$83,897

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

TaxArkansasArizona
State income tax on wagesup to 3.90%2.50% flat
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20269.5%8.5%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.52%0.43%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $2,065 a year in Arkansas and $1,716 in Arizona. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Arizona

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

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

    TucsonLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

    TucsonLikely eligible

  • WIC

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

    TucsonLikely eligible

  • School meals

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

    TucsonLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    FayettevilleMaybe

    TucsonMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

    TucsonLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

    TucsonLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    FayettevilleUnlikely

    TucsonUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    FayettevilleLikely eligible

    TucsonLikely eligible

  • SSI

    FayettevilleUnlikely

    TucsonUnlikely

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 Arizona · 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.