Fayetteville vs Fort Smith leftover
You'd keep $18 more a month in Fort Smith
$2,394/mo leftover in Fort Smith vs $2,376 in Fayetteville after tax and rent ($18 more). +$216 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Fayetteville leftover
$2,376
a month after tax and rent
Fort Smith leftover
$2,394
+$18 vs Fayetteville
Compare Fayetteville to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Fayetteville.
Monthly gap
Fayetteville → Fort Smith
$18
more / month in Fort Smith
$2,394 in Fort Smith · $2,376 in Fayetteville · One adult, renting a 1-bedroom
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
In 2022-2023, 423 households moved Fayetteville → Fort Smith (avg AGI $48,135). 556 went the other way. The whole move →
+$18 / mo
| Per month | Fayetteville | Fort Smith | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,000 | $6,494 | −$506 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,632 | $1,462 | −$170 |
| Take-home pay | $5,368 | $5,032 | −$336 |
| Rent | $1,145 | $776 | −$369 |
| Getting around | $542 | $563 | +$21 |
| Groceries | $360 | $358 | −$2 |
| Healthcare | $405 | $403 | −$2 |
| Utilities | $225 | $224 | −$1 |
| Everything else | $315 | $314 | −$1 |
| Left over | $2,376 | $2,394 | +$18 |
To break even in Fort Smith, you'd need to earn
$77,500
Household gross, versus $84,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Fayetteville does now.
The tax difference alone
+$237
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 23.3% in Fayetteville, 22.5% in Fort Smith.
More about Fort Smith
Fayetteville, AR in full
Ozark trails, corporate headquarters, and a 21-minute commute.
Fort Smith, AR in full
State income tax topping out at 3.9%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $924 and 223 sunny days; commutes average 22 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Fort Smith on Fort Smith wages.
Fort Smith → Fayetteville →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Fort Smith than Fayetteville?
A one-bedroom is about $1,145 in Fayetteville versus $776 in Fort Smith. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $18 a month higher in Fort Smith. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Fort Smith have state income tax?
Fort Smith is in Arkansas, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Fayetteville to Fort Smith?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Arkansas tax, rent is priced at the same bedroom count, and leftover is the gap. The from-to page also lists IRS households that already made the move, when that data exists.
Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. The dollar gap between Fayetteville and Fort Smith moves when you change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.
Rent is Zillow's asking rent for each metro; taxes and living costs are modelled. An estimate, not a quote or tax advice. How this is calculated.