Lower costs are a big part of why people consider leaving the city. Frank and Dave make a bold claim about it in their book, and government price data lets you check that claim against real numbers before you move.
What the price data measures
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis gives every metro area, and the rural part of most states, a Regional Price Parity: one number that compares local prices with the national average, which is set at 100. Rural Texas, for example, scores 87.8, which means prices there run about 12% below the national average (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024).
Each area also gets a separate score for housing, which is usually where the biggest differences show up.
How to do the math
To see how far a paycheck stretches, multiply the income by the city's score, then divide by the rural score.
Take Dallas-Fort Worth, where Frank lived before his move. The metro area scores 103.1 and rural Texas scores 87.8 (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024):
$50,000 × 103.1 ÷ 87.8 = about $58,700
In plain words, if you kept a $50,000 income and moved from Dallas-Fort Worth to rural Texas, it would buy about what $58,700 buys in the city.
Housing works the same way. Dallas-Fort Worth scores 117.9 for housing and rural Texas scores 62.2 (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024). Since 62.2 is about 53% of 117.9, housing in rural Texas costs about 47% less.
Five city-to-country comparisons
Here's the same math for a $50,000 income in five big metro areas, each compared with the rural part of its own state:
- Dallas-Fort Worth to rural Texas: $50,000 buys about what $58,700 buys in the city. Housing costs about 47% less.
- Chicago area to rural Illinois: about $59,300. Housing costs about 55% less.
- Los Angeles area to rural California: about $56,800. Housing costs about 49% less.
- St. Louis area to rural Missouri: about $56,700. Housing costs about 36% less.
- Denver area to rural Colorado: about $54,300. Housing costs about 34% less.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024. The math is ours.
Colorado shows the smallest gap of the five. One likely reason: rural Colorado includes pricey mountain resort towns as well as ranch country, and the state's number blends them together.
What the numbers leave out
These figures are a good starting point, not a promise. Keep four things in mind:
- They're averages. Each rural score covers the whole rural part of a state, including its small cities. A popular tourist town or college town can cost more, and a quiet farm town can cost less. Your town will differ.
- They're before taxes. The scores compare prices, not income, sales or property taxes, which differ from state to state and county to county. Check them with the county and a tax professional.
- Housing is measured by rent. The bureau builds its housing score from rents, so home prices in a particular town may be higher or lower than the rent gap suggests.
- The math assumes your income comes with you. If you'll be taking a local job, compare local pay too.
The book's rule of thumb
Frank and Dave's own experience goes further than the data. As they put it in the book, "So an income of $50,000 in the city seems like $100,000 in the small town."
That's a rule of thumb from living it, not a statistic, and it's bigger than any of the averages above. Part of the difference is what a price index can't see. It compares the cost of the same everyday purchases in each place. It doesn't capture how your spending changes after you move.
In the book, dinner out for a family of four drops from about $100 in the city to about $30. In Frank's town, property taxes and private school tuition alone came to $30,000 a year less than in the city.
The book's bigger point is that you may simply buy less. Nobody compares cars or vacations, and conversation turns to people instead of things. In Frank and Dave's words, you end up with "more disposable income, and fewer things to spend it on."
The honest takeaway: plan with the price data, and treat the bigger savings as something you earn by changing how you live.
Try your own numbers
The income tool runs this math for your metro area and the state you're considering. If keeping your job is the big question, read work and commuting next.
The free book has Frank and Dave's full take on the financial side of small-town life.
Your checklist
- Look up your metro area and the state you're considering in the income tool
- Write down what your paycheck would be worth in the rural part of that state
- Ask a local real estate agent what homes and rentals really cost in the towns you like
- Check property and income taxes with the county and a tax professional
- List the costs that would change for you, such as tuition, commuting and eating out
- Decide whether your income will move with you or you'll need a local job