Overall
Diff -0.0 RPP
Ames vs Topeka
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Topeka is 0% less expensive than Ames.
0% less expensive
Topeka, KS is 0% 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 $99,989 in Topeka; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 88.8 (Ames) vs 88.8 (Topeka)
- $100k in Ames ≈ $99,989 purchasing power in Topeka
- Services drives the gap (+5.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:KS 88.8→88.8
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IA × KS
- 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
Topeka
88.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Ames, IA and Topeka, KS are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.0 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Topeka is 5.9 points higher. But services 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 $99,989 in Topeka, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +0.3 RPP
Services
Diff +5.9 RPP
Rents
Diff -4.2 RPP
| Category | Ames | Topeka | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 88.8 | 88.8 | -0.0 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 94.0 | +0.3 |
| Services | 83.0 | 88.9 | +5.9 |
| Rents | 69.2 | 65.0 | -4.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Ames 88.8
Topeka 88.8
Goods
Ames 93.7
Topeka 94.0
Services
Ames 83.0
Topeka 88.9
Rents
Ames 69.2
Topeka 65.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Ames and Topeka share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 9.0 to 0.0 RPP points. Ames remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 15.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (16.2 to 0.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Ames RPP | Topeka RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 82.4 | 91.5 | 9.0 points Topeka higher |
| 2012 | 92.3 | 91.6 | 0.8 points Ames higher |
| 2016 | 88.7 | 89.9 | 1.1 points Topeka higher |
| 2020 | 93.1 | 90.1 | 3.0 points Ames higher |
| 2024 | 88.8 | 88.8 | 0.0 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 Topeka for the same purchasing power:
| In Ames | In Topeka | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,994 | $-6 |
| $75,000 | $74,992 | $-8 |
| $100,000 | $99,989 | $-11 |
| $150,000 | $149,983 | $-17 |
$ in Ames = in Topeka
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (88.8 → 88.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Also Compare
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Topeka more expensive than Ames?
Topeka is 0% less expensive than Ames. The overall cost index is 88.8 vs 88.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Topeka equals $100K in Ames?
A $100,000 salary in Ames has the same purchasing power as $99,989 in Topeka. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Ames and Topeka?
Rents in Ames are indexed at 69.2 while Topeka is at 65.0 (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.