The book's rule of thumb is a bold one: if you can earn the same income in a small town that you earn in the city, you'll have about twice the buying power. That comes from Frank and Dave's own experience after they moved, not from a government survey.
So what does the government's price data say? Here's how to read it, and how to run the numbers on your own paycheck.
What Regional Price Parities are
Every year the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) publishes Regional Price Parities. They measure how price levels differ from place to place, compared with the national average. The newest figures were released in February 2026 and cover 2024.
The national average is set at 100. A place that scores 110 is about 10% more expensive than average. A place that scores 90 is about 10% cheaper.
The index covers what households buy: goods such as food and clothing, rent, utilities and other services. BEA builds its housing figure from rents.
BEA also splits most states in two: the metro areas, and everything outside them, which it calls the nonmetropolitan portion. That second part covers small cities, small towns and the countryside. We call it "rural" in this article and in our income tool.
How the math works
To see what a paycheck is worth after a move, multiply your income by the score where you live now, then divide by the score where you're going.
Here's a family earning $75,000 in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, which scores 103.1, looking at rural Texas, which scores 87.8 (BEA, 2024):
$75,000 × 103.1 ÷ 87.8 = $88,069
Rounded, $75,000 in rural Texas buys about what $88,000 buys in Dallas-Fort Worth.
You can turn the math around, too. Living the way that family lives now would cost about $64,000 a year in rural Texas ($75,000 × 87.8 ÷ 103.1 = $63,870).
Six examples
Each example keeps the income at $75,000 and compares a big metro area, suburbs included, with the rural part of a state. All figures are BEA's for 2024, rounded to the nearest $1,000 or whole percent.
- Dallas-Fort Worth to rural Texas: $75,000 stretches like about $88,000, and housing costs about 47% less.
- New York to rural New York: about $92,000, with housing about 56% cheaper.
- Los Angeles to rural California: about $85,000, with housing about 49% cheaper.
- Chicago to rural Illinois: about $89,000, with housing about 55% cheaper.
- Denver to rural Colorado: about $81,000, with housing about 34% cheaper.
- Dallas-Fort Worth to rural Missouri: about $92,000, with housing about 57% cheaper.
The last one is the kind of move Frank Rolfe made in 2005, from Dallas to Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. The U.S. Department of Agriculture classes Ste. Genevieve County as nonmetro (2023), so rural Missouri's average is a fair yardstick for his town. Dave Reynolds made a move like the Denver example, from Denver to a small mountain town on Colorado's Western Slope.
What the examples tell you
Housing is where the savings are. In these six examples, overall prices in the rural area run about 8% to 19% below the big metro, but housing runs about 34% to 57% below (BEA, 2024).
Goods don't drop nearly as much. For goods, the gap in these examples ranges from about 1% to 13% (BEA, 2024).
Utilities can go the other way. BEA's utility scores for rural New York and rural Illinois are higher than for the New York and Chicago metro areas (2024). Ask for real utility bills on any house you consider.
Both ends of the move matter. Rural Colorado scores 97.5, close to the national average, so Denver to rural Colorado shows the smallest gain here (BEA, 2024). Rural California scores 100.0, right at the national average (BEA, 2024). It only looks cheap next to Los Angeles.
Why the book's number is bigger
In these six examples, the same income buys about 9% to 23% more on prices alone (BEA, 2024). The book's "about twice" comes from real family life, so it also counts changes in how a family spends, not only what things cost.
The book's own examples: private school tuition falling from about $20,000 a year to about $5,000, a family dinner out costing a fraction of the city price, and spending slowing down once nobody around you is keeping score. You can read Frank's own list, written in 2020.
Your results will depend on how your family lives. That's why it's worth running both kinds of numbers: the price data, and your own budget, line by line.
The fine print
These figures are a starting point, not a promise. Keep four things in mind.
It's an average for the whole rural part of a state. That average blends towns of every kind, from busy county seats to quiet farm towns. The town you have in mind could be well above or well below it.
It's prices only. The index doesn't tell you what local jobs pay, and it doesn't include income or property taxes, which vary by state and county. If you'll take a local job, compare the actual pay. For taxes, a local accountant can run your numbers.
Housing is measured with rents. Prices for homes for sale can tell a different story, so look at real listings in the town itself.
It's 2024 data. Prices move every year. Treat the results as a ballpark, then check them against real grocery receipts, utility bills and listings.
Run your own numbers
Our free income tool does this math with the same BEA figures. Plug in your own income and the places you're comparing, and it does the rest.
For more on the money side of a move, read our guide to money and small-town living.
And if you'd like the longer story of how the money worked out for two families who made the move, Frank and Dave's book is free: get your copy here.