Roanoke vs Tyler
Metro-area medians — Roanoke, VA Metro Area vs Tyler, TX Metro Area — not the cities proper.
Roanoke comes out ahead, winning 5 of the 7 clearly-decided measures.
Roanoke and Tyler cost about the same to live in, but Tyler households earn about 5% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Tyler.
Their widest everyday difference: Roanoke has the tighter job market — 2.6% unemployment versus 4.9%.
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.
On $75,000 for just you, Tyler leaves you about $4,848/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.
Choose Roanoke for
- + Livability (CityLedger)
- + Median rent
- + Median home value
- + Unemployment
- + Average commute
Choose Tyler for
- + Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
- + Median household income
More comparisons
Metros closest to Roanoke and Tyler on cost, income, size, and education.
Roanoke vs Tyler — frequently asked
- Is Roanoke cheaper than Tyler?
- They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Roanoke and Tyler metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.
- Which has higher household income, Roanoke or Tyler?
- Tyler has the higher median household income — $76,087 versus $72,557 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 5% more.
- Does a paycheck go further in Roanoke or Tyler?
- A paycheck stretches further in Tyler. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $82,563 there versus $77,503 in Roanoke.
- Which has cheaper rent, Roanoke or Tyler?
- Roanoke has cheaper rent — a median of $1,188/mo versus $1,272/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).