Amarillo composite
45.7 /100
Grade C+ · weighted across 7 dims
Metro comparison
Amarillo vs Amherst Town
Amarillo, TX and Amherst Town-Northampton, MA side by side, cost of living, rent, wages, crime, schools, childcare and environment, all from the same federal datasets so every number is directly comparable.
- 45.7
- Amarillo Life Score
- C+
- Amarillo grade
- 33.0
- Amherst Town Life Score
- F
- Amherst Town grade
Head-to-head verdict
Across the seven dimensions, Amarillo scores higher on 4 (cost of living, rent, schools, childcare) and Amherst Town on 3 (wages, safety, environment). The radar shows the full shape; the tables below break out every figure.
Amarillo vs Amherst Town across all seven dimensions (each scored 0–100 as a national percentile, bigger area = stronger overall)
Where each metro wins, and by how much
Every dimension is a national percentile (0–100). Each bar leans toward the stronger metro, a long lean is a decisive edge, a near-even split is a toss-up. The radar shows the overall shape; this shows the per-dimension margins.
◖ Amarillo Amherst Town ◗
cost of living
64
22
wages
20
95
rent
80
8
safety
35
49
schools
35
7
childcare
79
2
environment
2
3
Amarillo and Amherst Town differ across eleven dimensions of livability. Amarillo has a cost-of-living index of 91.8 vs Amherst Town's 100.2 (national average = 100). A 2-bedroom averages $1,106/mo vs $2,004/mo.
How to read this matchup
Reading the Amarillo vs Amherst Town Comparison
Amarillo (TX) and Amherst Town (MA) are assembled here from the same federal data pipeline, BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, FBI Uniform Crime Reports, NCES public-school counts, and EPA environmental indicators, so every number on this page is directly comparable. The overall cost index reads 91.8 for Amarillo against 100.2 for Amherst Town, a 8.4-point gap on a scale where 100 equals the U.S. average. HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent, the figure used to set housing-choice voucher payment standards, is $1,106/mo in Amarillo and $2,004/mo in Amherst Town, a $898/mo difference that compounds to $10,776 over a year.
Wage data is reported by metro delineation, and one of these metros is missing a BLS record for the latest OES cycle; the salary columns below fall back to available years. State-level violent crime, the most reliable geographic tier FBI UCR publishes, is 394.7 per 100,000 residents in TX vs 308.8 in MA, with property-crime rates of 2058.2 and 1101.2 respectively.
Schools are reported at the state tier by NCES: TX lists 9,061 public schools at a 14.6:1 student-teacher ratio, while MA lists 1,831 schools at 12.1:1, a signal of class-size staffing, though individual district and school-level variation within each state is substantial. Department of Labor center-based infant care runs $7,566/yr in the Amarillo area versus $20,571/yr in Amherst Town - a line item that shifts the real cost-of-living picture for households with children under five far more than headline RPP does. When these pieces are read together rather than in isolation, Amarillo and Amherst Town are not simply "cheaper" or "more expensive" - they trade across dimensions, and which metro wins depends on whether your household optimizes for rent, wages, schools, childcare, safety, or environment. Treat the tables below as inputs to that trade-off, not as a single ranking.
Amherst Town composite
33.0 /100
Grade F · weighted across 7 dims
Cost-of-living gap
-8.4 pts
Amarillo vs Amherst Town BEA RPP
2-bed rent delta
$898 /mo
Amherst Town priced higher
Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale
Amarillo
Amarillo composite (Grade C+)
Amherst Town
Amherst Town composite (Grade F)
Composite is a weighted roll-up of seven dimensions: cost (20%), wages (20%), rent (15%), safety (15%), schools (10%), childcare (10%), environment (10%). Each input normalized to a 0–100 percentile across all metros.
💰 Cost of Living BEA →
| Category | Amarillo | Amherst Town |
|---|---|---|
| Overall RPP | 91.8 | 100.2 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 97.0 |
| Services | 83.5 | 155.7 |
| Rents | 78.4 | 97.5 |
Salary Equivalent Calculator
What salary in Amherst Town gives the same purchasing power as your salary in Amarillo?
$
Equivalent in Amherst Town:
$109,173
Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (Amarillo: 91.8, Amherst Town: 100.2, national avg = 100).
🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) HUD →
| Bedrooms | Amarillo | Amherst Town |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $778/mo | $1,382/mo |
| 1 Bedroom | $903/mo | $1,580/mo |
| 2 Bedroom | $1,106/mo | $2,004/mo |
| 3 Bedroom | $1,503/mo | $2,504/mo |
| 4 Bedroom | $1,742/mo | $2,702/mo |
🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) FBI →
| Crime Type (per 100K) | Amarillo (TX) | Amherst Town (MA) |
|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime | 394.7 | 308.8 |
| Property Crime | 2058.2 | 1101.2 |
🎓 Schools (state-level) NCES →
| Metric | TX | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Total Schools | 9,061 | 1,831 |
| Student-Teacher Ratio | 14.6:1 | 12.1:1 |
| Charter Schools | 11.4% | 4.2% |
👶 Childcare Costs (Annual Avg) (state-level) DOL →
| Age Group | TX | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Infant (Center) | $7,566/yr | $20,571/yr |
| Toddler (Center) | $7,109/yr | $18,516/yr |
| Preschool (Center) | $6,926/yr | $14,656/yr |
🌿 Environment (state-level) EPA →
| Metric | TX | MA |
|---|---|---|
| EPA Facilities | 2,342 | 450 |
| Water Systems | 4,587 | 564 |
| Superfund Sites | 70 | 41 |
| Water Violations | 33,822 | 1,106 |
Government-verified data — Air quality (EPA AQS), water safety (EPA SDWIS), healthcare access (HRSA), and disaster risk (FEMA NRI) are sourced directly from U.S. federal agencies. No crowdsourced estimates.
💨 Air Quality (EPA AQS) EPA AQS →
| Metric | Amarillo | Amherst Town |
|---|---|---|
| Median AQI | 44.0 | 36.9 |
| Good Air Days | 72.8% | 85.8% |
| Unhealthy Air Days | 3 days | N/A |
Amherst Town air quality shown at state level. Amarillo has metro-level data.
💧 Water Safety (EPA SDWIS, state-level) EPA SDWIS →
| Metric | TX | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Water Safety Score | 13/100 | 6/100 |
| Total Violations | 746,210 | 73,886 |
| Health-Based Violations | 162,945 | 7,389 |
| Systems with Violations | 90.2% | 95.2% |
🏥 Healthcare Access (HRSA, state-level) HRSA →
| Metric | TX | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Access Score | 0/100 | 0/100 |
| Population in Shortage Area | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| HPSA Designations | 912 | 168 |
HPSA = Health Professional Shortage Area, designated by HRSA. Higher access score = better healthcare availability.
⚠️ Natural Disaster Risk (FEMA NRI, state-level) FEMA NRI →
| Metric | TX | MA |
|---|---|---|
| Disaster Safety Score | 64/100 | 25/100 |
| NRI Risk Score (avg county) | 49.0 | 78.8 |
| Expected Annual Loss Score | 44.7 | 82.3 |
FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) scores are county-level percentiles (0–100). Higher disaster safety score = lower relative risk. State-level values are county averages.
Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level. Metro-specific data for these dimensions is not available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Amarillo more expensive than Amherst Town? ▼
Amarillo has a cost of living index of 91.8 compared to Amherst Town's 100.2 (national average = 100). Amherst Town is 8.4 points above Amarillo on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between Amarillo and Amherst Town? ▼
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $1,106/mo in Amarillo vs $2,004/mo in Amherst Town, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $778/mo to $1,382/mo.
How do salaries compare between Amarillo and Amherst Town? ▼
Wage data is not available for one or both metros.
Is Amarillo or Amherst Town safer? ▼
At the state level, TX has a violent crime rate of 394.7 per 100,000 residents compared to MA's 308.8 per 100,000. Property crime rates are 2058.2 vs 1101.2 per 100,000 respectively, based on FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
How do schools compare between Amarillo and Amherst Town? ▼
TX has 9,061 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 14.6:1, while MA has 1,831 schools at 12.1:1. Charter schools make up 11.4% of TX schools vs 4.2% in MA. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Where does the comparison data come from? ▼
All data comes from official U.S. government sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis (cost of living), HUD (fair market rents), BLS (wages), FBI UCR (crime), NCES (schools), Department of Labor (childcare), EPA (environment, air quality, water safety), HRSA (healthcare access), and FEMA NRI (disaster risk). No crowdsourced estimates or proprietary ratings are used.
Research Guides
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Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, EPA AQS, EPA SDWIS, HRSA, and FEMA NRI. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.
Related
Data sourced from official public datasets, current as of 2026. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial