Overall
- Columbia
- 89.4
Diff -0.4 RPP
Columbia vs Davenport-Moline-Rock Island
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Davenport-Moline-Rock Island is 0.4% less expensive than Columbia.
0.4% less expensive
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL is 0.4% less expensive than Columbia, MO on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 89.1 vs 89.4). A $100,000 salary in Columbia buys about the same as $99,599 in Davenport-Moline-Rock Island; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 89.4 (Columbia) vs 89.1 (Davenport-Moline-Rock Island)
- $100k in Columbia ≈ $99,599 purchasing power in Davenport-Moline-Rock Island
- Services drives the gap (+4.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MO:IA 89.4→89.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MO × IA
- 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.
Columbia
89.4
Cost Index
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island
89.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Columbia, MO and Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Davenport-Moline-Rock Island is 4.0 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 Columbia to $99,599 in Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Columbia
- 94.2
Diff +0.0 RPP
Services
- Columbia
- 86.0
Diff +4.0 RPP
Rents
- Columbia
- 69.2
Diff -0.9 RPP
| Category | Columbia | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 89.4 | 89.1 | -0.4 |
| Goods | 94.2 | 94.2 | +0.0 |
| Services | 86.0 | 89.9 | +4.0 |
| Rents | 69.2 | 68.3 | -0.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Columbia 89.4
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 89.1
Goods
Columbia 94.2
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 94.2
Services
Columbia 86.0
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 89.9
Rents
Columbia 69.2
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 68.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Columbia would need to be in Davenport-Moline-Rock Island for the same purchasing power:
| In Columbia | In Davenport-Moline-Rock Island | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,799 | $-201 |
| $75,000 | $74,699 | $-301 |
| $100,000 | $99,599 | $-401 |
| $150,000 | $149,398 | $-602 |
$ in Columbia = in Davenport-Moline-Rock Island
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (89.4 → 89.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Davenport-Moline-Rock Island more expensive than Columbia?
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island is 0.4% less expensive than Columbia. The overall cost index is 89.1 vs 89.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Davenport-Moline-Rock Island equals $100K in Columbia?
A $100,000 salary in Columbia has the same purchasing power as $99,599 in Davenport-Moline-Rock Island. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Columbia and Davenport-Moline-Rock Island?
Rents in Columbia are indexed at 69.2 while Davenport-Moline-Rock Island is at 68.3 (national average = 100). Columbia 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.