Overall
- Dubuque
- 87.3
- Grand Forks
- 86.7
Diff -0.7 RPP
Dubuque vs Grand Forks
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Grand Forks is 0.8% less expensive than Dubuque.
0.8% less expensive
Grand Forks, ND-MN is 0.8% less expensive than Dubuque, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 86.7 vs 87.3). A $100,000 salary in Dubuque buys about the same as $99,239 in Grand Forks; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 87.3 (Dubuque) vs 86.7 (Grand Forks)
- $100k in Dubuque ≈ $99,239 purchasing power in Grand Forks
- Rents drives the gap (-4.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:ND 87.3→86.7
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.
Dubuque
87.3
Cost Index
Grand Forks
86.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Dubuque, IA and Grand Forks, ND-MN 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.
Rents creates the largest separation: Grand Forks is 4.4 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 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 Dubuque corresponds to $99,239 in Grand Forks.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Dubuque
- 93.7
- Grand Forks
- 95.6
Diff +1.9 RPP
Services
- Dubuque
- 81.2
- Grand Forks
- 77.1
Diff -4.1 RPP
Rents
- Dubuque
- 64.0
- Grand Forks
- 59.7
Diff -4.4 RPP
| Category | Dubuque | Grand Forks | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.3 | 86.7 | -0.7 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 95.6 | +1.9 |
| Services | 81.2 | 77.1 | -4.1 |
| Rents | 64.0 | 59.7 | -4.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Dubuque 87.3
Grand Forks 86.7
Goods
Dubuque 93.7
Grand Forks 95.6
Services
Dubuque 81.2
Grand Forks 77.1
Rents
Dubuque 64.0
Grand Forks 59.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Dubuque and Grand Forks share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.2 to 0.7 RPP points. Dubuque remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 14.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (10.1 to 4.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Dubuque RPP | Grand Forks RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 93.4 | 95.6 | 2.2 points Grand Forks higher |
| 2012 | 91.8 | 89.7 | 2.1 points Dubuque higher |
| 2016 | 91.2 | 92.2 | 1.0 points Grand Forks higher |
| 2020 | 89.8 | 91.2 | 1.5 points Grand Forks higher |
| 2024 | 87.3 | 86.7 | 0.7 points Dubuque 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 Dubuque would need to be in Grand Forks for the same purchasing power:
| In Dubuque | In Grand Forks | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,619 | $-381 |
| $75,000 | $74,429 | $-571 |
| $100,000 | $99,239 | $-761 |
| $150,000 | $148,858 | $-1,142 |
$ in Dubuque = in Grand Forks
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.3 → 86.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Grand Forks more expensive than Dubuque?
Grand Forks is 0.8% less expensive than Dubuque. The overall cost index is 86.7 vs 87.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Grand Forks equals $100K in Dubuque?
A $100,000 salary in Dubuque has the same purchasing power as $99,239 in Grand Forks. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Dubuque and Grand Forks?
Rents in Dubuque are indexed at 64.0 while Grand Forks is at 59.7 (national average = 100). Dubuque 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.