{"id":207113,"date":"2026-03-16T18:15:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T18:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/207113\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T18:15:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T18:15:07","slug":"cost-of-living-across-north-texas-varies-with-denton-below-the-national-average-plano-well-above-new-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/207113\/","title":{"rendered":"Cost of living across North Texas varies with Denton below the national average, Plano well above, new study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fort Worth, Plano and Arlington saw an increase in the cost of living last year. Denton and Dallas had a decline, according to a new study from SmartAsset.<\/p>\n

DALLAS \u2014 When it comes to major cities in the Dallas\u2013Fort Worth area, Denton stood out as the most affordable. According to a new study from SmartAsset<\/a>, Denton\u2019s cost of living fell 0.81% between 2024 and 2025. \u00a0The city sits 3.9% below the national average.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Plano<\/a> experienced one of the largest increases locally. The study found the cost of living there rose about 1.1% last year, placing it 8.6% above the national average.<\/p>\n

In Fort Worth<\/a>, costs rose 2.3% over the year, though the city remains 4% below the national average, suggesting the area continues to offer relative affordability despite rising prices.<\/p>\n

Nearby Arlington saw a larger increase, with the cost of living climbing 4.3%, but it still sits 2.5% below the national average,\u00a0according to the report.<\/p>\n

The city of Dallas<\/a> was one of the few North Texas locations where costs dipped. The study found the cost of living declined 0.8% between 2024 and 2025, leaving the city 1.5% below the national average.<\/p>\n

RELATED: How much do you need to earn to live comfortably in DFW? Study says more than $100K per year<\/a><\/p>\n

Across Texas, the largest shift occurred in Lubbock, where the cost of living rose 5.7% between 2024 and 2025,\u00a0though it\u00a0remains 6.7% below the national average.<\/p>\n

Harlingen takes the crown as the most affordable city in the Lone Star State coming in 20.2% below the national average.<\/p>\n

Nationally, the biggest increase occurred in Great Falls, Montana, where the cost of living jumped nearly 9.8% year-over-year, even though it is still 3.5% less expensive than the U.S. average. Other cities with sharp increases included Springfield, Missouri (8.3%) and Rapid City, South Dakota (7.7%).<\/p>\n

The study also identified places where residents saw relief. The cost of living\u00a0fell the most in\u00a0Meridian,\u00a0Mississippi dropping nearly 4%, followed by Orlando, Florida (-3.8%) and Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida (-3.5%). Overall,\u00a041 of the 236 locations analyzed saw decreases in costs.<\/p>\n

Some cities remain significantly cheaper than the national average. Tupelo, Mississippi has the largest cost advantage, with prices 21.1% below the U.S. average. Decatur, Illinois was also ranked among the most affordable coming in 20% below the national average.<\/p>\n

At the opposite end of the spectrum, New York (Manhattan), New York has the highest costs in the country, carrying a 139% premium compared to the national average. Other expensive areas include San Jose, California; Honolulu, Hawaii; New York (Brooklyn), New York; Orange County, California and San Francisco, California.<\/p>\n

SmartAsset took a look at the cost of housing, groceries, utilities, transportation and other common necessities for its rankings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fort Worth, Plano and Arlington saw an increase in the cost of living last year. Denton and Dallas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[160,162,161],"class_list":["post-207113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-plano","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}