Overall
Diff +0.3 RPP
Dubuque vs St. Cloud
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. St. Cloud is 0.3% more expensive than Dubuque.
0.3% more expensive
St. Cloud, MN is 0.3% more expensive than Dubuque, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.6 vs 87.3). A $100,000 salary in Dubuque buys about the same as $100,348 in St. Cloud; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.3 (Dubuque) vs 87.6 (St. Cloud)
- $100k in Dubuque ≈ $100,348 purchasing power in St. Cloud
- Services drives the gap (+7.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:MN 87.3→87.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IA × MN
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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
St. Cloud
87.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Dubuque, IA and St. Cloud, MN are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with St. Cloud 7.5 points higher than Dubuque. 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.
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 $100,348 in St. Cloud, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +1.7 RPP
Services
Diff +7.5 RPP
Rents
Diff +1.0 RPP
| Category | Dubuque | St. Cloud | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.3 | 87.6 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 95.4 | +1.7 |
| Services | 81.2 | 88.7 | +7.5 |
| Rents | 64.0 | 65.1 | +1.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Dubuque 87.3
St. Cloud 87.6
Goods
Dubuque 93.7
St. Cloud 95.4
Services
Dubuque 81.2
St. Cloud 88.7
Rents
Dubuque 64.0
St. Cloud 65.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Dubuque would need to be in St. Cloud for the same purchasing power:
| In Dubuque | In St. Cloud | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,174 | +$174 |
| $75,000 | $75,261 | +$261 |
| $100,000 | $100,348 | +$348 |
| $150,000 | $150,522 | +$522 |
$ in Dubuque = in St. Cloud
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.3 → 87.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is St. Cloud more expensive than Dubuque?
St. Cloud is 0.3% more expensive than Dubuque. The overall cost index is 87.6 vs 87.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in St. Cloud equals $100K in Dubuque?
A $100,000 salary in Dubuque has the same purchasing power as $100,348 in St. Cloud. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Dubuque and St. Cloud?
Rents in Dubuque are indexed at 64.0 while St. Cloud is at 65.1 (national average = 100). St. Cloud 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.