Overall
- Cedar Rapids
- 89.0
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 89.2
Diff +0.3 RPP
Cedar Rapids vs Sierra Vista-Douglas
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Sierra Vista-Douglas is 0.3% more expensive than Cedar Rapids.
0.3% more expensive
Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ is 0.3% more expensive than Cedar Rapids, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 89.2 vs 89.0). A $100,000 salary in Cedar Rapids buys about the same as $100,315 in Sierra Vista-Douglas; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 89.0 (Cedar Rapids) vs 89.2 (Sierra Vista-Douglas)
- $100k in Cedar Rapids ≈ $100,315 purchasing power in Sierra Vista-Douglas
- Rents drives the gap (-9.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:AZ 89.0→89.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IA × AZ
- 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.
Cedar Rapids
89.0
Cost Index
Sierra Vista-Douglas
89.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Cedar Rapids, IA and Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Sierra Vista-Douglas is 9.5 points lower. But rents 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 Cedar Rapids corresponds to $100,315 in Sierra Vista-Douglas.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Cedar Rapids
- 93.7
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 96.2
Diff +2.5 RPP
Services
- Cedar Rapids
- 84.0
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 91.9
Diff +8.0 RPP
Rents
- Cedar Rapids
- 71.4
- Sierra Vista-Douglas
- 61.9
Diff -9.5 RPP
| Category | Cedar Rapids | Sierra Vista-Douglas | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 89.0 | 89.2 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 96.2 | +2.5 |
| Services | 84.0 | 91.9 | +8.0 |
| Rents | 71.4 | 61.9 | -9.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Cedar Rapids 89.0
Sierra Vista-Douglas 89.2
Goods
Cedar Rapids 93.7
Sierra Vista-Douglas 96.2
Services
Cedar Rapids 84.0
Sierra Vista-Douglas 91.9
Rents
Cedar Rapids 71.4
Sierra Vista-Douglas 61.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Cedar Rapids and Sierra Vista-Douglas share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.9 to 0.3 RPP points. Sierra Vista-Douglas remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 10.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (2.5 to 8.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Cedar Rapids RPP | Sierra Vista-Douglas RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 92.9 | 93.8 | 0.9 points Sierra Vista-Douglas higher |
| 2012 | 93.7 | 93.5 | 0.2 points Cedar Rapids higher |
| 2016 | 91.1 | 93.0 | 1.8 points Sierra Vista-Douglas higher |
| 2020 | 91.2 | 88.5 | 2.7 points Cedar Rapids higher |
| 2024 | 89.0 | 89.2 | 0.3 points Sierra Vista-Douglas 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 Cedar Rapids would need to be in Sierra Vista-Douglas for the same purchasing power:
| In Cedar Rapids | In Sierra Vista-Douglas | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,157 | +$157 |
| $75,000 | $75,236 | +$236 |
| $100,000 | $100,315 | +$315 |
| $150,000 | $150,472 | +$472 |
$ in Cedar Rapids = in Sierra Vista-Douglas
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (89.0 → 89.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Sierra Vista-Douglas more expensive than Cedar Rapids?
Sierra Vista-Douglas is 0.3% more expensive than Cedar Rapids. The overall cost index is 89.2 vs 89.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Sierra Vista-Douglas equals $100K in Cedar Rapids?
A $100,000 salary in Cedar Rapids has the same purchasing power as $100,315 in Sierra Vista-Douglas. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Cedar Rapids and Sierra Vista-Douglas?
Rents in Cedar Rapids are indexed at 71.4 while Sierra Vista-Douglas is at 61.9 (national average = 100). Cedar Rapids 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.