Overall
Diff -0.4 RPP
Ames vs Decatur
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Decatur is 0.5% less expensive than Ames.
0.5% less expensive
Decatur, IL is 0.5% less expensive than Ames, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 88.4 vs 88.8). A $100,000 salary in Ames buys about the same as $99,541 in Decatur; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 88.8 (Ames) vs 88.4 (Decatur)
- $100k in Ames ≈ $99,541 purchasing power in Decatur
- Rents drives the gap (-13.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:IL 88.8→88.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IA × IL
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Ames
88.8
Cost Index
Decatur
88.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Ames, IA and Decatur, IL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Decatur is 13.0 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Ames corresponds to $99,541 in Decatur.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
Diff +8.1 RPP
Rents
Diff -13.0 RPP
| Category | Ames | Decatur | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 88.8 | 88.4 | -0.4 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 93.6 | -0.1 |
| Services | 83.0 | 91.1 | +8.1 |
| Rents | 69.2 | 56.2 | -13.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Ames 88.8
Decatur 88.4
Goods
Ames 93.7
Decatur 93.6
Services
Ames 83.0
Decatur 91.1
Rents
Ames 69.2
Decatur 56.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Ames and Decatur share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 8.6 to 0.4 RPP points. Ames remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 21.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (21.8 to 0.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Ames RPP | Decatur RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 82.4 | 91.0 | 8.6 points Decatur higher |
| 2012 | 92.3 | 93.0 | 0.7 points Decatur higher |
| 2016 | 88.7 | 88.9 | 0.2 points Decatur higher |
| 2020 | 93.1 | 88.3 | 4.8 points Ames higher |
| 2024 | 88.8 | 88.4 | 0.4 points Ames higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Ames would need to be in Decatur for the same purchasing power:
| In Ames | In Decatur | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,770 | $-230 |
| $75,000 | $74,656 | $-344 |
| $100,000 | $99,541 | $-459 |
| $150,000 | $149,311 | $-689 |
$ in Ames = in Decatur
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.8 → 88.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Decatur more expensive than Ames?
Decatur is 0.5% less expensive than Ames. The overall cost index is 88.4 vs 88.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Decatur equals $100K in Ames?
A $100,000 salary in Ames has the same purchasing power as $99,541 in Decatur. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Ames and Decatur?
Rents in Ames are indexed at 69.2 while Decatur is at 56.2 (national average = 100). Ames has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.