Cost of living comparison
compared to
Fort Smith vs. United States Cost of Living Summary
Fort Smith is 16.8% cheaper than United States overall.
- Restaurants
-
pay 1.6% less in Fort Smith
- Groceries
-
pay 28.4% less in Fort Smith
- Transportation
-
pay 28.1% less in Fort Smith
- Housing
-
pay 22.3% less in Fort Smith
- Childcare
-
pay 17.0% less in Fort Smith
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 15.7% less in Fort Smith
- Clothing
-
pay 4.8% less in Fort Smith
Expenses including groceries, transportation, housing, childcare, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in Fort Smith.
Fort Smith vs. United States Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Fort Smith instead of United States, you would:
pay 1.6% less for restaurants
|
United States
|
Fort Smith
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$19.45
|
$20.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.12
|
$11.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.56
|
$2.33
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.00
|
$2.02
|
|
United States vs. Fort Smith - Cost of restaurants
pay 28.4% less for groceries
|
United States
|
Fort Smith
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.56
|
$3.08
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.50
|
$3.74
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.97
|
$4.10
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.27
|
$2.94
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$5.41
|
$4.46
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.37
|
$2.16
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.78
|
$0.65
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.04
|
$1.13
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.21
|
$0.98
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.34
|
$0.88
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.38
|
$0.70
|
|
United States vs. Fort Smith - Cost of groceries
pay 28.1% less for transportation
|
United States
|
Fort Smith
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.41
|
$2.79
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$65.85
|
$35.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$32,336.38
|
$26,000.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$17.61
|
$12.75
|
|
United States vs. Fort Smith - Cost of transportation
pay 22.3% less for housing
|
United States
|
Fort Smith
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$68.97
|
$68.50
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,664.59
|
$683.33
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,416.15
|
$675.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$150.19
|
$184.39
|
|
United States vs. Fort Smith - Cost of housing
pay 17.0% less for childcare
|
United States
|
Fort Smith
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,387.27
|
$900.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$23,196.46
|
$23,460.00
|
|
United States vs. Fort Smith - Cost of childcare
pay 15.7% less for entertainment and sports
|
United States
|
Fort Smith
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.84
|
$6.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.15
|
$5.32
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.90
|
$8.21
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$51.45
|
$26.67
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.64
|
$11.00
|
|
United States vs. Fort Smith - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 4.8% less for clothing
|
United States
|
Fort Smith
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$51.08
|
$55.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$41.81
|
$41.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$87.56
|
$93.33
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$112.04
|
$76.66
|
|
United States vs. Fort Smith - Cost of clothing
The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you.
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world.
Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025
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