Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Fayetteville's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Fayetteville?
Your $100,000 in Fayetteville has the same purchasing power as $114,890 in the average US city. You'd need $14,890 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Fayetteville's cost index of 87, sorted by closest match.
If you're weighing a move to Fayetteville, the short answer is that the city has a few genuine arguments going for it — most obviously cheaper than the national average, with no fine print and sunny days are the default, plus 2 more things worth knowing. Here's the longer version.
Fayetteville sits at 87 on the composite cost-of-living index — about 13% under the national average. Not the cheapest place in the country, but enough of a discount to notice on rent and groceries every month. Median rent in town runs about $1,117/mo against a typical household income of $53,424, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
Fayetteville sees about 269 sunny days a year — well above the US average of roughly 205. If your mood tracks daylight, or if you just like spending time outside, this is one of the easier US cities to live in.
Fayetteville's air quality index averages about 43 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
The average one-way commute in Fayetteville is about 19 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
Reasons are pulled from Fayetteville's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Now and then. Fayetteville's winters are cool rather than truly cold — about 38°F on average — so most of the precipitation falls as rain. A snowy morning happens a few times a season; sustained accumulation is rare.
Mild on the cold side. Fayetteville's winter average of about 38°F is the kind of weather where you want a jacket but the heating bill is manageable. Snow is rare, frost is occasional, and the lawn never really browns out.
Hot, but not desert-hot. Summer in Fayetteville runs about 88°F on average, with afternoons in the 90s and humidity that varies by region. AC is standard rather than optional.
Fayetteville gets about 269 sunny days a year — well above the US average of around 205. If your mood tracks daylight, this is one of the easier US cities to live in.
Approximately USDA Hardiness Zone 9. That's the band gardeners use to pick plants — anything rated for Zone 9 or colder should survive a typical winter in Fayetteville. (The estimate is derived from our winter-temperature data; the official USDA map uses station-level annual minimums and may differ by half a zone.)
Fayetteville sits at about 243 feet (74 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Officially, Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, but most of the action lands between mid-August and mid-October. For Fayetteville, that's when to keep half an eye on the National Hurricane Center forecast cone — and when an actual evacuation plan is worth having in the drawer if you're in a low-lying or coastal neighborhood.
Higher than average. Fayetteville reports about 4,488 incidents per 100,000 residents, above the US average of around 3,500. Citywide numbers are often dragged up by a few hotspots; specific neighborhoods can be very safe in cities that don't look great on paper, and vice versa.
No — your dollar actually goes further here. Fayetteville's composite cost-of-living index is 87, roughly 13% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Somewhat. Fayetteville earns a Walk Score of 54/100 — many daily errands are doable on foot, especially in the denser neighborhoods, but a car still helps for longer trips.
Roughly $60,928 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Fayetteville runs about $1,117/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.