Overall
- Dubuque
- 87.3
- Youngstown-Warren
- 87.4
Diff +0.1 RPP
Dubuque vs Youngstown-Warren
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Youngstown-Warren is 0.1% more expensive than Dubuque.
0.1% more expensive
Youngstown-Warren, OH is 0.1% more expensive than Dubuque, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.4 vs 87.3). A $100,000 salary in Dubuque buys about the same as $100,076 in Youngstown-Warren; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 87.3 (Dubuque) vs 87.4 (Youngstown-Warren)
- $100k in Dubuque ≈ $100,076 purchasing power in Youngstown-Warren
- Services drives the gap (+15.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:OH 87.3→87.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IA × OH
- 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
Youngstown-Warren
87.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Dubuque, IA and Youngstown-Warren, OH are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Youngstown-Warren is 15.1 points higher. But rents and 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 $100,076 in Youngstown-Warren, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Dubuque
- 93.7
- Youngstown-Warren
- 93.6
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
- Dubuque
- 81.2
- Youngstown-Warren
- 96.3
Diff +15.1 RPP
Rents
- Dubuque
- 64.0
- Youngstown-Warren
- 53.4
Diff -10.6 RPP
| Category | Dubuque | Youngstown-Warren | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 87.3 | 87.4 | +0.1 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 93.6 | -0.1 |
| Services | 81.2 | 96.3 | +15.1 |
| Rents | 64.0 | 53.4 | -10.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Dubuque 87.3
Youngstown-Warren 87.4
Goods
Dubuque 93.7
Youngstown-Warren 93.6
Services
Dubuque 81.2
Youngstown-Warren 96.3
Rents
Dubuque 64.0
Youngstown-Warren 53.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Dubuque and Youngstown-Warren share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.2 to 0.1 RPP points. Youngstown-Warren remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 4.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (11.0 to 15.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Dubuque RPP | Youngstown-Warren RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 93.4 | 91.3 | 2.2 points Dubuque higher |
| 2012 | 91.8 | 90.8 | 1.1 points Dubuque higher |
| 2016 | 91.2 | 87.8 | 3.4 points Dubuque higher |
| 2020 | 89.8 | 86.1 | 3.7 points Dubuque higher |
| 2024 | 87.3 | 87.4 | 0.1 points Youngstown-Warren 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 Youngstown-Warren for the same purchasing power:
| In Dubuque | In Youngstown-Warren | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,038 | +$38 |
| $75,000 | $75,057 | +$57 |
| $100,000 | $100,076 | +$76 |
| $150,000 | $150,113 | +$113 |
$ in Dubuque = in Youngstown-Warren
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (87.3 → 87.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Youngstown-Warren more expensive than Dubuque?
Youngstown-Warren is 0.1% more expensive than Dubuque. The overall cost index is 87.4 vs 87.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Youngstown-Warren equals $100K in Dubuque?
A $100,000 salary in Dubuque has the same purchasing power as $100,076 in Youngstown-Warren. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Dubuque and Youngstown-Warren?
Rents in Dubuque are indexed at 64.0 while Youngstown-Warren is at 53.4 (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.