Overall
Diff -0.1 RPP
Lincoln vs Iowa City
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Iowa City is 0.1% less expensive than Lincoln.
0.1% less expensive
Iowa City, IA is 0.1% less expensive than Lincoln, NE on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.5 vs 91.6). A $100,000 salary in Lincoln buys about the same as $99,921 in Iowa City; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 91.6 (Lincoln) vs 91.5 (Iowa City)
- $100k in Lincoln ≈ $99,921 purchasing power in Iowa City
- Services drives the gap (+6.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NE:IA 91.6→91.5
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NE × IA
- 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.
Lincoln
91.6
Cost Index
Iowa City
91.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Lincoln, NE and Iowa City, IA 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: Iowa City is 6.9 points higher. 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Lincoln to $99,921 in Iowa City, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -0.4 RPP
Services
Diff +6.9 RPP
Rents
Diff -0.2 RPP
| Category | Lincoln | Iowa City | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 91.6 | 91.5 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 94.1 | 93.7 | -0.4 |
| Services | 76.8 | 83.7 | +6.9 |
| Rents | 84.2 | 84.0 | -0.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Lincoln 91.6
Iowa City 91.5
Goods
Lincoln 94.1
Iowa City 93.7
Services
Lincoln 76.8
Iowa City 83.7
Rents
Lincoln 84.2
Iowa City 84.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Lincoln would need to be in Iowa City for the same purchasing power:
| In Lincoln | In Iowa City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,961 | $-39 |
| $75,000 | $74,941 | $-59 |
| $100,000 | $99,921 | $-79 |
| $150,000 | $149,882 | $-118 |
$ in Lincoln = in Iowa City
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (91.6 → 91.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Iowa City more expensive than Lincoln?
Iowa City is 0.1% less expensive than Lincoln. The overall cost index is 91.5 vs 91.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Iowa City equals $100K in Lincoln?
A $100,000 salary in Lincoln has the same purchasing power as $99,921 in Iowa City. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Lincoln and Iowa City?
Rents in Lincoln are indexed at 84.2 while Iowa City is at 84.0 (national average = 100). Lincoln 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.