Overall
- Iowa City
- 91.5
Diff +6.7 RPP
Iowa City vs Prescott Valley-Prescott
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Prescott Valley-Prescott is 7.4% more expensive than Iowa City.
7.4% more expensive
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ 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 $107,372 in Prescott Valley-Prescott; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 91.5 (Iowa City) vs 98.3 (Prescott Valley-Prescott)
- $100k in Iowa City ≈ $107,372 purchasing power in Prescott Valley-Prescott
- Rents drives the gap (+14.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:AZ 91.5→98.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE IA × AZ
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Iowa City would need to be in Prescott Valley-Prescott for the same purchasing power:
| In Iowa City | In Prescott Valley-Prescott | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,686 | +$3,686 |
| $75,000 | $80,529 | +$5,529 |
| $100,000 | $107,372 | +$7,372 |
| $150,000 | $161,058 | +$11,058 |
$ in Iowa City = in Prescott Valley-Prescott
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.5 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ 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 6.7-point overall gap.
Rents leads the difference, with Prescott Valley-Prescott 14.8 points higher than Iowa City. 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.
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 $107,372 in Prescott Valley-Prescott.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Iowa City
- 93.7
Diff +2.5 RPP
Services
- Iowa City
- 83.7
Diff +7.8 RPP
Rents
- Iowa City
- 84.0
Diff +14.8 RPP
| Category | Iowa City | Prescott Valley-Prescott | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.5 | 98.3 | +6.7 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 96.2 | +2.5 |
| Services | 83.7 | 91.5 | +7.8 |
| Rents | 84.0 | 98.8 | +14.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Iowa City 91.5
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.3
Goods
Iowa City 93.7
Prescott Valley-Prescott 96.2
Services
Iowa City 83.7
Prescott Valley-Prescott 91.5
Rents
Iowa City 84.0
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Iowa City
91.5
Cost Index
Prescott Valley-Prescott
98.3
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Iowa City and Prescott Valley-Prescott share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 7.3 to 6.7 RPP points. Prescott Valley-Prescott remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 11.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (3.8 to 7.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Iowa City RPP | Prescott Valley-Prescott RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.7 | 103.0 | 7.3 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2012 | 96.5 | 96.5 | 0.1 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2016 | 95.4 | 98.6 | 3.2 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2020 | 95.6 | 93.2 | 2.4 points Iowa City higher |
| 2024 | 91.5 | 98.3 | 6.7 points Prescott Valley-Prescott 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 Prescott Valley-Prescott more expensive than Iowa City?
Prescott Valley-Prescott is 7.4% more expensive than Iowa City. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 91.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott equals $100K in Iowa City?
A $100,000 salary in Iowa City has the same purchasing power as $107,372 in Prescott Valley-Prescott. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Iowa City and Prescott Valley-Prescott?
Rents in Iowa City are indexed at 84.0 while Prescott Valley-Prescott is at 98.8 (national average = 100). Prescott Valley-Prescott 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.