Overall
- Bismarck
- 91.0
Diff -0.7 RPP
Des Moines-West Des Moines vs Bismarck
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Bismarck is 0.7% less expensive than Des Moines-West Des Moines.
0.7% less expensive
Bismarck, ND is 0.7% less expensive than Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.0 vs 91.7). A $100,000 salary in Des Moines-West Des Moines buys about the same as $99,262 in Bismarck; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 91.7 (Des Moines-West Des Moines) vs 91.0 (Bismarck)
- $100k in Des Moines-West Des Moines ≈ $99,262 purchasing power in Bismarck
- Services drives the gap (-9.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:ND 91.7→91.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IA × ND
- 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.
Des Moines-West Des Moines
91.7
Cost Index
Bismarck
91.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA and Bismarck, ND are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.7 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Bismarck is 9.6 points lower. But 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 Des Moines-West Des Moines to $99,262 in Bismarck, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Bismarck
- 95.7
Diff +2.0 RPP
Services
- Bismarck
- 75.0
Diff -9.6 RPP
Rents
- Bismarck
- 84.0
Diff -0.7 RPP
| Category | Des Moines-West Des Moines | Bismarck | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.7 | 91.0 | -0.7 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 95.7 | +2.0 |
| Services | 84.6 | 75.0 | -9.6 |
| Rents | 84.7 | 84.0 | -0.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Des Moines-West Des Moines 91.7
Bismarck 91.0
Goods
Des Moines-West Des Moines 93.7
Bismarck 95.7
Services
Des Moines-West Des Moines 84.6
Bismarck 75.0
Rents
Des Moines-West Des Moines 84.7
Bismarck 84.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Des Moines-West Des Moines and Bismarck share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 5.1 to 0.7 RPP points. Des Moines-West Des Moines remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 28.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (28.8 to 0.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Des Moines-West Des Moines RPP | Bismarck RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.1 | 90.0 | 5.1 points Des Moines-West Des Moines higher |
| 2012 | 95.5 | 95.2 | 0.2 points Des Moines-West Des Moines higher |
| 2016 | 94.6 | 96.0 | 1.4 points Bismarck higher |
| 2020 | 93.8 | 92.6 | 1.2 points Des Moines-West Des Moines higher |
| 2024 | 91.7 | 91.0 | 0.7 points Des Moines-West Des Moines 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 Des Moines-West Des Moines would need to be in Bismarck for the same purchasing power:
| In Des Moines-West Des Moines | In Bismarck | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,631 | $-369 |
| $75,000 | $74,446 | $-554 |
| $100,000 | $99,262 | $-738 |
| $150,000 | $148,893 | $-1,107 |
$ in Des Moines-West Des Moines = in Bismarck
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.7 → 91.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bismarck more expensive than Des Moines-West Des Moines?
Bismarck is 0.7% less expensive than Des Moines-West Des Moines. The overall cost index is 91.0 vs 91.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Bismarck equals $100K in Des Moines-West Des Moines?
A $100,000 salary in Des Moines-West Des Moines has the same purchasing power as $99,262 in Bismarck. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Des Moines-West Des Moines and Bismarck?
Rents in Des Moines-West Des Moines are indexed at 84.7 while Bismarck is at 84.0 (national average = 100). Des Moines-West Des Moines 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.