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Ames vs Duluth

Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Duluth is 0.1% less expensive than Ames.

0.1% less expensive

Duluth, MN-WI is 0.1% less expensive than Ames, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 88.8 vs 88.8). A $100,000 salary in Ames buys about the same as $99,930 in Duluth; the largest component gap is services.

  • Overall RPP 88.8 (Ames) vs 88.8 (Duluth)
  • $100k in Ames ≈ $99,930 purchasing power in Duluth
  • Services drives the gap (+4.2 RPP points)

RPP parity plate

Pair IA:MN 88.8→88.8

PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR

  • PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
  • CROSS-STATE IA × MN
  • 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
Duluth
88.8
Cost Index

What This Comparison Actually Tells You

Ames, IA and Duluth, MN-WI are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.

Services creates the largest separation: Duluth is 4.2 points higher. But services and rents and goods 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Ames to $99,930 in Duluth, but it is not a personal spending weight.

Category Breakdown

Visual Comparison

Overall
Ames
88.8
Duluth
88.8
Goods
Ames
93.7
Duluth
95.3
Services
Ames
83.0
Duluth
87.3
Rents
Ames
69.2
Duluth
71.1

Vertical line = national average (100)

Salary Equivalents

What a salary in Ames would need to be in Duluth for the same purchasing power:

In Ames In Duluth Difference
$50,000 $49,965 $-35
$75,000 $74,948 $-52
$100,000 $99,930 $-70
$150,000 $149,895 $-105
$ in Ames = – in Duluth

Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.8 → 88.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.

Reverse: Duluth → Ames Ames Details Duluth Details

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Duluth more expensive than Ames?

Duluth is 0.1% less expensive than Ames. The overall cost index is 88.8 vs 88.8 (national average = 100).

What salary in Duluth equals $100K in Ames?

A $100,000 salary in Ames has the same purchasing power as $99,930 in Duluth. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.

How do rents compare between Ames and Duluth?

Rents in Ames are indexed at 69.2 while Duluth is at 71.1 (national average = 100). Duluth has higher rents.

Data sources

Data sourced from official public datasets, Regional Price Parities (2024), index where national average = 100. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCost. See our methodology for details.

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.