Overall
- Ames
- 88.8
Diff +25.3 RPP
Ames vs Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach is 28.5% more expensive than Ames.
28.5% more expensive
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL is 28.5% more expensive than Ames, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 114.2 vs 88.8). A $100,000 salary in Ames buys about the same as $128,510 in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 88.8 (Ames) vs 114.2 (Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach)
- $100k in Ames ≈ $128,510 purchasing power in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
- Rents drives the gap (+86.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:FL 88.8→114.2
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE IA × FL
- RENT-LED Rent-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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Ames would need to be in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach for the same purchasing power:
| In Ames | In Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $64,255 | +$14,255 |
| $75,000 | $96,382 | +$21,382 |
| $100,000 | $128,510 | +$28,510 |
| $150,000 | $192,764 | +$42,764 |
$ in Ames = in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.8 → 114.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Ames, IA and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 25.3 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach is above 100 while Ames is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 86.4 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 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 $128,510 in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Ames
- 93.7
Diff +9.8 RPP
Services
- Ames
- 83.0
Diff +14.2 RPP
Rents
- Ames
- 69.2
Diff +86.4 RPP
| Category | Ames | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 88.8 | 114.2 | +25.3 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 103.6 | +9.8 |
| Services | 83.0 | 97.2 | +14.2 |
| Rents | 69.2 | 155.6 | +86.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Ames 88.8
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 114.2
Goods
Ames 93.7
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 103.6
Services
Ames 83.0
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 97.2
Rents
Ames 69.2
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 155.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Ames
88.8
Cost Index
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
114.2
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Ames and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 24.1 to 25.3 RPP points. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 13.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (23.1 to 9.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Ames RPP | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 82.4 | 106.5 | 24.1 points Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach higher |
| 2012 | 92.3 | 107.5 | 15.1 points Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach higher |
| 2016 | 88.7 | 107.9 | 19.2 points Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach higher |
| 2020 | 93.1 | 109.5 | 16.4 points Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach higher |
| 2024 | 88.8 | 114.2 | 25.3 points Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach more expensive than Ames?
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach is 28.5% more expensive than Ames. The overall cost index is 114.2 vs 88.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach equals $100K in Ames?
A $100,000 salary in Ames has the same purchasing power as $128,510 in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Ames and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach?
Rents in Ames are indexed at 69.2 while Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach is at 155.6 (national average = 100). Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 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.