Overall
- Iowa City
- 91.5
- Coeur d'Alene
- 98.3
Diff +6.8 RPP
Iowa City vs Coeur d'Alene
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Coeur d'Alene is 7.4% more expensive than Iowa City.
7.4% more expensive
Coeur d'Alene, ID is 7.4% more expensive than Iowa City, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 91.5). A $100,000 salary in Iowa City buys about the same as $107,413 in Coeur d'Alene; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 91.5 (Iowa City) vs 98.3 (Coeur d'Alene)
- $100k in Iowa City ≈ $107,413 purchasing power in Coeur d'Alene
- Rents drives the gap (+21.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:ID 91.5→98.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE IA × ID
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Iowa City
- 93.7
- Coeur d'Alene
- 96.2
Diff +2.4 RPP
Services
- Iowa City
- 83.7
- Coeur d'Alene
- 70.8
Diff -12.9 RPP
Rents
- Iowa City
- 84.0
- Coeur d'Alene
- 105.6
Diff +21.6 RPP
| Category | Iowa City | Coeur d'Alene | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.5 | 98.3 | +6.8 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 96.2 | +2.4 |
| Services | 83.7 | 70.8 | -12.9 |
| Rents | 84.0 | 105.6 | +21.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Iowa City 91.5
Coeur d'Alene 98.3
Goods
Iowa City 93.7
Coeur d'Alene 96.2
Services
Iowa City 83.7
Coeur d'Alene 70.8
Rents
Iowa City 84.0
Coeur d'Alene 105.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Coeur d'Alene is 21.6 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Coeur d'Alene, ID is 7.4% more expensive than Iowa City, IA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.8-point overall gap.
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.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Iowa City corresponds to $107,413 in Coeur d'Alene.
Iowa City
91.5
Cost Index
Coeur d'Alene
98.3
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Iowa City would need to be in Coeur d'Alene for the same purchasing power:
| In Iowa City | In Coeur d'Alene | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,707 | +$3,707 |
| $75,000 | $80,560 | +$5,560 |
| $100,000 | $107,413 | +$7,413 |
| $150,000 | $161,120 | +$11,120 |
$ in Iowa City = in Coeur d'Alene
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.5 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Iowa City and Coeur d'Alene share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 2.4 to 6.8 RPP points. Coeur d'Alene remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 19.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (2.1 to 21.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Iowa City RPP | Coeur d'Alene RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.7 | 98.1 | 2.4 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2012 | 96.5 | 94.9 | 1.6 points Iowa City higher |
| 2016 | 95.4 | 97.5 | 2.1 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2020 | 95.6 | 93.0 | 2.5 points Iowa City higher |
| 2024 | 91.5 | 98.3 | 6.8 points Coeur d'Alene 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Coeur d'Alene more expensive than Iowa City?
Coeur d'Alene is 7.4% more expensive than Iowa City. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 91.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Coeur d'Alene equals $100K in Iowa City?
A $100,000 salary in Iowa City has the same purchasing power as $107,413 in Coeur d'Alene. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Iowa City and Coeur d'Alene?
Rents in Iowa City are indexed at 84.0 while Coeur d'Alene is at 105.6 (national average = 100). Coeur d'Alene 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.