Overall
Diff -0.1 RPP
Iowa City vs Toledo
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Toledo is 0.1% less expensive than Iowa City.
0.1% less expensive
Toledo, OH is 0.1% less expensive than Iowa City, IA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.5 vs 91.5). A $100,000 salary in Iowa City buys about the same as $99,941 in Toledo; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 91.5 (Iowa City) vs 91.5 (Toledo)
- $100k in Iowa City ≈ $99,941 purchasing power in Toledo
- Rents drives the gap (-16.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IA:OH 91.5→91.5
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.
Iowa City
91.5
Cost Index
Toledo
91.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Iowa City, IA and Toledo, 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.
Rents creates the largest separation: Toledo is 16.7 points lower. But services 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 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 $99,941 in Toledo.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
Diff +12.6 RPP
Rents
Diff -16.7 RPP
| Category | Iowa City | Toledo | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.5 | 91.5 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 93.6 | -0.1 |
| Services | 83.7 | 96.3 | +12.6 |
| Rents | 84.0 | 67.3 | -16.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Iowa City 91.5
Toledo 91.5
Goods
Iowa City 93.7
Toledo 93.6
Services
Iowa City 83.7
Toledo 96.3
Rents
Iowa City 84.0
Toledo 67.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Iowa City and Toledo share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.1 to 0.1 RPP points. Iowa City remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 8.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (8.0 to 16.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Iowa City RPP | Toledo RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.7 | 95.9 | 0.1 points Toledo higher |
| 2012 | 96.5 | 92.5 | 4.0 points Iowa City higher |
| 2016 | 95.4 | 92.6 | 2.8 points Iowa City higher |
| 2020 | 95.6 | 90.9 | 4.6 points Iowa City higher |
| 2024 | 91.5 | 91.5 | 0.1 points Iowa City 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 Iowa City would need to be in Toledo for the same purchasing power:
| In Iowa City | In Toledo | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,970 | $-30 |
| $75,000 | $74,956 | $-44 |
| $100,000 | $99,941 | $-59 |
| $150,000 | $149,911 | $-89 |
$ in Iowa City = in Toledo
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.5 → 91.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Toledo more expensive than Iowa City?
Toledo is 0.1% less expensive than Iowa City. The overall cost index is 91.5 vs 91.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Toledo equals $100K in Iowa City?
A $100,000 salary in Iowa City has the same purchasing power as $99,941 in Toledo. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Iowa City and Toledo?
Rents in Iowa City are indexed at 84.0 while Toledo is at 67.3 (national average = 100). Iowa City 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.