Little Rock vs Fort Smith leftover
Moving to Fort Smith costs you $364 a month
$2,402/mo leftover in Fort Smith vs $2,766 in Little Rock after tax and rent ($364 less). −$4,368 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Little Rock leftover
$2,766
a month after tax and rent
Fort Smith leftover
$2,402
−$364 vs Little Rock
Compare Little Rock to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Little Rock.
Monthly gap
Little Rock → Fort Smith
$364
less / month in Little Rock
$2,402 in Fort Smith · $2,766 in Little Rock · 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, 128 households moved Little Rock → Fort Smith (avg AGI $54,906). 143 went the other way. The whole move →
−$364 / mo
| Per month | Little Rock | Fort Smith | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,208 | $6,507 | −$701 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,702 | $1,467 | −$235 |
| Take-home pay | $5,507 | $5,040 | −$466 |
| Rent | $906 | $776 | −$130 |
| Getting around | $540 | $563 | +$23 |
| Groceries | $357 | $358 | +$1 |
| Healthcare | $402 | $403 | +$1 |
| Utilities | $223 | $224 | +$1 |
| Everything else | $313 | $314 | +$1 |
| Left over | $2,766 | $2,402 | −$364 |
To break even in Fort Smith, you'd need to earn
$84,500
Household gross, versus $86,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Little Rock does now.
The tax difference alone
+$328
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 23.6% in Little Rock, 22.5% in Fort Smith.
More about Fort Smith
Little Rock, AR in full
State income tax topping out at 3.9%, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,079 and 208 sunny days; commutes average 23 minutes.
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 → Little Rock →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Fort Smith than Little Rock?
A one-bedroom is about $906 in Little Rock versus $776 in Fort Smith. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $364 a month lower 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 Little Rock 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 Little Rock 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.