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CityLedger

College Station vs Lafayette

Metro-area medians — College Station-Bryan, TX Metro Area vs Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN Metro Area — not the cities proper.

Lafayette comes out ahead, winning 6 of the 8 clearly-decided measures.

College Station and Lafayette cost about the same to live in, but Lafayette households earn about 9% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Lafayette.

For your salary & household

Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.

College Station, TX
$61,314
take-home / yr · 18% to tax
$67,414
real value after local prices
Lafayette, IN
$59,064
take-home / yr · 21% to tax
$63,217
real value after local prices

On $75,000 for just you, College Station leaves you about $4,197/yr better off after tax and local prices.

Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.

Measure
College Station
Lafayette
Livability (CityLedger)
44/100
48/100
Cost of living (price level, US = 100)
91.0
93.4
Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
$68,150
$72,263
Median household income
$61,983
$67,515
Median rent
$1,195/mo
$1,126/mo
Median home value
$301,800
$274,600
Unemployment
4.7%
3.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher
42.5%
36.8%
Average commute
19.7 min
20.1 min
Air quality (median AQI)
39
44
Avg temperature
69°F
51°F

Choose College Station for

  • + Bachelor's degree or higher
  • + Air quality (median AQI)
Full College Station profile →

Choose Lafayette for

  • + Livability (CityLedger)
  • + Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
  • + Median household income
  • + Median rent
  • + Median home value
  • + Unemployment
Full Lafayette profile →

College Station vs Lafayette — frequently asked

Is College Station cheaper than Lafayette?
They are about even — the overall cost of living in the College Station and Lafayette metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.
Which has higher household income, College Station or Lafayette?
Lafayette has the higher median household income — $67,515 versus $61,983 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 9% more.
Does a paycheck go further in College Station or Lafayette?
A paycheck stretches further in Lafayette. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $72,263 there versus $68,150 in College Station.
Which has cheaper rent, College Station or Lafayette?
Lafayette has cheaper rent — a median of $1,126/mo versus $1,195/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).