Overall
Diff +7.2 RPP
Des Moines-West Des Moines vs Atlantic City-Hammonton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Atlantic City-Hammonton is 7.8% more expensive than Des Moines-West Des Moines.
7.8% more expensive
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ is 7.8% more expensive than Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.9 vs 91.7). A $100,000 salary in Des Moines-West Des Moines buys about the same as $107,804 in Atlantic City-Hammonton; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 91.7 (Des Moines-West Des Moines) vs 98.9 (Atlantic City-Hammonton)
- $100k in Des Moines-West Des Moines ≈ $107,804 purchasing power in Atlantic City-Hammonton
- Services drives the gap (+24.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:NJ 91.7→98.9
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE IA × NJ
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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
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.
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ is 7.8% more expensive than Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 7.2-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Atlantic City-Hammonton 24.6 points higher than Des Moines-West Des Moines. 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 Des Moines-West Des Moines to $107,804 in Atlantic City-Hammonton, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Des Moines-West Des Moines and Atlantic City-Hammonton share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 15.6 to 7.2 RPP points. Atlantic City-Hammonton remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 36.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (50.8 to 13.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Des Moines-West Des Moines RPP | Atlantic City-Hammonton RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.1 | 110.7 | 15.6 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2012 | 95.5 | 104.6 | 9.1 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2016 | 94.6 | 102.6 | 8.0 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2020 | 93.8 | 101.2 | 7.4 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2024 | 91.7 | 98.9 | 7.2 points Atlantic City-Hammonton 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
| Category | Des Moines-West Des Moines | Atlantic City-Hammonton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.7 | 98.9 | +7.2 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 99.8 | +6.1 |
| Services | 84.6 | 109.2 | +24.6 |
| Rents | 84.7 | 98.7 | +13.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Des Moines-West Des Moines 91.7
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.9
Goods
Des Moines-West Des Moines 93.7
Atlantic City-Hammonton 99.8
Services
Des Moines-West Des Moines 84.6
Atlantic City-Hammonton 109.2
Rents
Des Moines-West Des Moines 84.7
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Des Moines-West Des Moines would need to be in Atlantic City-Hammonton for the same purchasing power:
| In Des Moines-West Des Moines | In Atlantic City-Hammonton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,902 | +$3,902 |
| $75,000 | $80,853 | +$5,853 |
| $100,000 | $107,804 | +$7,804 |
| $150,000 | $161,705 | +$11,705 |
$ in Des Moines-West Des Moines = in Atlantic City-Hammonton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.7 → 98.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Des Moines-West Des Moines
91.7
Cost Index
Atlantic City-Hammonton
98.9
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Atlantic City-Hammonton more expensive than Des Moines-West Des Moines?
Atlantic City-Hammonton is 7.8% more expensive than Des Moines-West Des Moines. The overall cost index is 98.9 vs 91.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton equals $100K in Des Moines-West Des Moines?
A $100,000 salary in Des Moines-West Des Moines has the same purchasing power as $107,804 in Atlantic City-Hammonton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Des Moines-West Des Moines and Atlantic City-Hammonton?
Rents in Des Moines-West Des Moines are indexed at 84.7 while Atlantic City-Hammonton is at 98.7 (national average = 100). Atlantic City-Hammonton 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.