Overall
- Dubuque
- 87.3
- Grand Island
- 86.7
Diff -0.7 RPP
Dubuque vs Grand Island
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Grand Island is 0.8% less expensive than Dubuque.
0.8% less expensive
Grand Island, NE 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 $99,232 in Grand Island; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.3 (Dubuque) vs 86.7 (Grand Island)
- $100k in Dubuque ≈ $99,232 purchasing power in Grand Island
- Services drives the gap (-7.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:NE 87.3→86.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IA × NE
- 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 Island
86.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Dubuque, IA and Grand Island, NE 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: Grand Island is 7.0 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 Dubuque to $99,232 in Grand Island, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Dubuque
- 93.7
- Grand Island
- 94.1
Diff +0.4 RPP
Services
- Dubuque
- 81.2
- Grand Island
- 74.2
Diff -7.0 RPP
Rents
- Dubuque
- 64.0
- Grand Island
- 61.7
Diff -2.3 RPP
| Category | Dubuque | Grand Island | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.3 | 86.7 | -0.7 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 94.1 | +0.4 |
| Services | 81.2 | 74.2 | -7.0 |
| Rents | 64.0 | 61.7 | -2.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Dubuque 87.3
Grand Island 86.7
Goods
Dubuque 93.7
Grand Island 94.1
Services
Dubuque 81.2
Grand Island 74.2
Rents
Dubuque 64.0
Grand Island 61.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Dubuque would need to be in Grand Island for the same purchasing power:
| In Dubuque | In Grand Island | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,616 | $-384 |
| $75,000 | $74,424 | $-576 |
| $100,000 | $99,232 | $-768 |
| $150,000 | $148,847 | $-1,153 |
$ in Dubuque = in Grand Island
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 Island more expensive than Dubuque?
Grand Island is 0.8% less expensive than Dubuque. The overall cost index is 86.7 vs 87.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Grand Island equals $100K in Dubuque?
A $100,000 salary in Dubuque has the same purchasing power as $99,232 in Grand Island. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Dubuque and Grand Island?
Rents in Dubuque are indexed at 64.0 while Grand Island is at 61.7 (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.