Cost of living comparison
compared to
Fort Smith vs. East Lansing Cost of Living Summary
Fort Smith is 19.6% cheaper than East Lansing.
Fort Smith vs. East Lansing Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Fort Smith instead of East Lansing, you would:
pay 5.9% more for restaurants
|
East Lansing
|
Fort Smith
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$16.50
|
$20.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$11.50
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.51
|
$2.33
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.17
|
$2.02
|
|
East Lansing vs. Fort Smith - Cost of restaurants
pay 33.6% less for groceries
|
East Lansing
|
Fort Smith
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.95
|
$3.35
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.51
|
$3.74
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.06
|
$3.69
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.79
|
$2.94
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$7.75
|
$4.92
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.45
|
$2.22
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.70
|
$0.65
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$3.00
|
$1.13
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.62
|
$0.98
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$2.60
|
$0.88
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$2.54
|
$0.70
|
|
East Lansing vs. Fort Smith - Cost of groceries
pay 29.8% less for transportation
|
East Lansing
|
Fort Smith
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.74
|
$2.94
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$50.00
|
$35.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$34,000.00
|
$26,000.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$34.85
|
$12.75
|
|
East Lansing vs. Fort Smith - Cost of transportation
pay 29.0% less for housing
|
East Lansing
|
Fort Smith
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$63.33
|
$68.50
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,207.50
|
$679.75
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,045.75
|
$656.25
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$134.29
|
$213.32
|
|
East Lansing vs. Fort Smith - Cost of housing
pay 72.0% more for childcare
|
East Lansing
|
Fort Smith
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$648.50
|
$900.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$11,136.00
|
$23,729.17
|
|
East Lansing vs. Fort Smith - Cost of childcare
pay 1.2% less for entertainment and sports
|
East Lansing
|
Fort Smith
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.00
|
$6.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.40
|
$5.26
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.52
|
$8.21
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$36.67
|
$26.67
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$11.00
|
$13.50
|
|
East Lansing vs. Fort Smith - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 6.6% more for clothing
|
East Lansing
|
Fort Smith
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$55.00
|
$53.80
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$37.50
|
$41.20
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$70.00
|
$93.33
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$85.00
|
$76.66
|
|
East Lansing vs. Fort Smith - Cost of clothing
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this
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