Overall
- Dubuque
- 87.3
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 87.7
Diff +0.4 RPP
Dubuque vs Watertown-Fort Drum
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Watertown-Fort Drum is 0.4% more expensive than Dubuque.
0.4% more expensive
Watertown-Fort Drum, NY is 0.4% more expensive than Dubuque, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.7 vs 87.3). A $100,000 salary in Dubuque buys about the same as $100,415 in Watertown-Fort Drum; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.3 (Dubuque) vs 87.7 (Watertown-Fort Drum)
- $100k in Dubuque ≈ $100,415 purchasing power in Watertown-Fort Drum
- Services drives the gap (+51.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:NY 87.3→87.7
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IA × NY
- 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
Watertown-Fort Drum
87.7
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Dubuque, IA and Watertown-Fort Drum, NY are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Watertown-Fort Drum is 51.0 points higher. But rents 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 $100,415 in Watertown-Fort Drum, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Dubuque
- 93.7
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 99.7
Diff +6.0 RPP
Services
- Dubuque
- 81.2
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 132.2
Diff +51.0 RPP
Rents
- Dubuque
- 64.0
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 53.2
Diff -10.9 RPP
| Category | Dubuque | Watertown-Fort Drum | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.3 | 87.7 | +0.4 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 99.7 | +6.0 |
| Services | 81.2 | 132.2 | +51.0 |
| Rents | 64.0 | 53.2 | -10.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Dubuque 87.3
Watertown-Fort Drum 87.7
Goods
Dubuque 93.7
Watertown-Fort Drum 99.7
Services
Dubuque 81.2
Watertown-Fort Drum 132.2
Rents
Dubuque 64.0
Watertown-Fort Drum 53.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Dubuque would need to be in Watertown-Fort Drum for the same purchasing power:
| In Dubuque | In Watertown-Fort Drum | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,207 | +$207 |
| $75,000 | $75,311 | +$311 |
| $100,000 | $100,415 | +$415 |
| $150,000 | $150,622 | +$622 |
$ in Dubuque = in Watertown-Fort Drum
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.3 → 87.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Watertown-Fort Drum more expensive than Dubuque?
Watertown-Fort Drum is 0.4% more expensive than Dubuque. The overall cost index is 87.7 vs 87.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Watertown-Fort Drum equals $100K in Dubuque?
A $100,000 salary in Dubuque has the same purchasing power as $100,415 in Watertown-Fort Drum. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Dubuque and Watertown-Fort Drum?
Rents in Dubuque are indexed at 64.0 while Watertown-Fort Drum is at 53.2 (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.