Overall
- Ames
- 88.8
- Fairbanks-College
- 103.2
Diff +14.4 RPP
Ames vs Fairbanks-College
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Fairbanks-College is 16.2% more expensive than Ames.
16.2% more expensive
Fairbanks-College, AK is 16.2% more expensive than Ames, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.2 vs 88.8). A $100,000 salary in Ames buys about the same as $116,186 in Fairbanks-College; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 88.8 (Ames) vs 103.2 (Fairbanks-College)
- $100k in Ames ≈ $116,186 purchasing power in Fairbanks-College
- Services drives the gap (+36.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:AK 88.8→103.2
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE IA × AK
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-STEEP Steep PP convert
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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Ames, IA and Fairbanks-College, AK sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 14.4 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Fairbanks-College is above 100 while Ames is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Services leads the difference, with Fairbanks-College 36.8 points higher than Ames. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 $116,186 in Fairbanks-College, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Ames and Fairbanks-College share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 22.3 to 14.4 RPP points. Fairbanks-College remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 29.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (53.3 to 23.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Ames RPP | Fairbanks-College RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 82.4 | 104.7 | 22.3 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2012 | 92.3 | 97.9 | 5.6 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2016 | 88.7 | 100.4 | 11.7 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2020 | 93.1 | 99.4 | 6.3 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2024 | 88.8 | 103.2 | 14.4 points Fairbanks-College 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Ames
- 93.7
- Fairbanks-College
- 107.3
Diff +13.6 RPP
Services
- Ames
- 83.0
- Fairbanks-College
- 119.8
Diff +36.8 RPP
Rents
- Ames
- 69.2
- Fairbanks-College
- 92.6
Diff +23.4 RPP
| Category | Ames | Fairbanks-College | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 88.8 | 103.2 | +14.4 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 107.3 | +13.6 |
| Services | 83.0 | 119.8 | +36.8 |
| Rents | 69.2 | 92.6 | +23.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Ames 88.8
Fairbanks-College 103.2
Goods
Ames 93.7
Fairbanks-College 107.3
Services
Ames 83.0
Fairbanks-College 119.8
Rents
Ames 69.2
Fairbanks-College 92.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Ames would need to be in Fairbanks-College for the same purchasing power:
| In Ames | In Fairbanks-College | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $58,093 | +$8,093 |
| $75,000 | $87,139 | +$12,139 |
| $100,000 | $116,186 | +$16,186 |
| $150,000 | $174,279 | +$24,279 |
$ in Ames = in Fairbanks-College
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.8 → 103.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Ames
88.8
Cost Index
Fairbanks-College
103.2
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fairbanks-College more expensive than Ames?
Fairbanks-College is 16.2% more expensive than Ames. The overall cost index is 103.2 vs 88.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Fairbanks-College equals $100K in Ames?
A $100,000 salary in Ames has the same purchasing power as $116,186 in Fairbanks-College. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Ames and Fairbanks-College?
Rents in Ames are indexed at 69.2 while Fairbanks-College is at 92.6 (national average = 100). Fairbanks-College 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.