Fort Smith, AR vs Los Angeles, CA
Moving from Fort Smith to Los Angeles? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($205,554 → $968,608 median home) and taxes.
Fort Smith vs Los Angeles at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Fort Smith, AR, you'd need about $134,507 in Los Angeles, CA (+$34,507).
Livability — Fort Smith, AR: 73 · Los Angeles, CA: 42 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 4,864 sqft in Fort Smith vs 774 sqft in Los Angeles ($103 vs $646 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Fort Smith, AR | Los Angeles, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $12,252 | $34,908 | +$22,656 |
| Groceries | $4,657 | $5,354 | +$697 |
| Transportation | $3,405 | $5,125 | +$1,720 |
| Utilities | $1,524 | $3,804 | +$2,280 |
| Insurance | $2,800 | $1,500 | −$1,300 |
| Taxes | $8,127 | $21,708 | +$13,582 |
| Total | $32,764 | $72,399 | +$39,635 |
Side by side
| Metric | Fort Smith, AR | Los Angeles, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 85.3 | 114.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.23% | 6.59% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -12.6% | -1.1% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $4.85 | $6.53 |
| Median home price | $205,554 | $968,608 |
| Home price ÷ income | 3.9× | 10.9× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 4.6% | 0.3% |
| Price per square foot | $103 | $646 |
| Median rent | $1,021 | $2,909 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.2% | 13.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.47% | 8.82% |
| Capital gains tax | 3.90% | 13.30% |
| Property tax rate | 0.62% | 0.69% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,000 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $7,500 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 1.02% | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 22 | 30 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,800 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,900 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $350 | $950 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.2 | 35.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 2.95 | 4.85 |
| Natural gas / mo | $62 | $72 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $62 | $138 |
| Home internet / mo | $78 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 640 | 500 |
| Avg summer high °F | 93 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 45 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 49.0 | 14.3 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 8.0 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 60% | 73% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 5 |